Focus Issue: Journal of Materials Research
Issue date: April 2020
Submission deadline: September 1, 2019

Since the 2000s, Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) has been widely employed to fabricate thin-film materials for a large variety of applications in microelectronics, optoelectronics, catalysis, biomedicine, gas sensing, anti-corrosion coating, clean-energy technologies (batteries, fuel cells, supercapacitors, solar cells, etc.), and nano- and micro-electromechanical systems (N/MEMS). The characteristic merits of ALD include not only its superior controllability over film thickness, composition, and crystallinity, but also its unique capability for constructing conformal thin-film coatings on complex structures. These merits also underlie the fast expansions of ALD into new areas over the past decades, such as metal-organic frameworks, two-dimensional layered materials, single-atom catalysis, solid-state batteries, and so on. Along with these new research trends, more research efforts are urgently needed to develop new ALD precursors for new processes and novel nanostructured materials toward emerging applications in various areas. The purpose of this Focus Issue is to provide a research forum to exchange the latest outcomes using ALD for emerging thin-film materials and explore the potentials of ALD materials for future applications.

Manuscripts are solicited in the following areas:

• New ALD processes
• ALD precursor chemistry
• Modeling and growth mechanisms of ALD
• Fabrication of novel nanostructures/nanocomposites by ALD (including MLD)
• Emerging applications of ALD materials
• Microelectronics
• N/MEMS
• Optoelectronics and display applications
• Clean energy technologies (batteries, fuel cells, solar cells, supercapacitors, etc.)
• Catalysis
• Sensors
• Biomedical applications
• Anti-corrosion coatings

Guest Editors: 

Xinwei Wang, Peking University, China
Xiangbo (Henry) Meng, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, USA
Jin-Seong Park, Hanyang University, Korea

Manuscript Submission: 

To be considered for this issue, new and previously unpublished results significant to the development of this field should be presented. The manuscripts must be submitted via the JMR electronic submission system by September 1, 2019. Manuscripts submitted after this deadline will not be considered for the issue due to time constraints on the review process. Please select “Focus issue: Atomic Layer Deposition for Emerging Thin-Film Materials and Applications” as the Focus Issue designation. Note our manuscript submission minimum length of 3250 words, excluding figures, captions, and references, with at least 6 and no more than 10 figures and tables combined. Review articles may be longer but must be pre-approved by proposal to the Guest Editors via jmr@mrs.org. The proposal form and author instructions may be found at www.mrs.org/jmr-instructions. All manuscripts will be reviewed in a normal but expedited fashion. Papers submitted by the deadline and subsequently accepted will be published in the Focus Issue. Other manuscripts that are acceptable but cannot be included in the issue will be scheduled for publication in a subsequent issue of JMR.