SIA spotlight on Asia

Abstract There has been rapid development in science and technology in Asia in recent decades, including in the fields of surface and interface sciences. This has been facilitated by the sustained economic growth in the region, especially the growth of the semiconductor, electronic, chemical, coating and biomedical industries. Accompanying this growth is the increased use of more sophisticated analytical techniques, especially in the field of surface and interface analysis. This article reviews a selection of papers from Asia, published in major international journals in the last two years. Short reviews of each paper are presented in three sections: (i) Characterization and techniques, (ii) Materials and processing and (iii) Nanoscience and nanotechnology. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.