Workshop: Materials Characterization for Nanoscale Reliability; held in Boulder, CO, August 2007

美国国家标准与技术研究所（NIST）和科罗拉多大学将于2007年8月在科罗拉多州博尔德举办一个研讨会，以确定和讨论材料特性和计量问题，这些问题对未来5到10年评估和提高小规模结构/材料的可靠性至关重要。为了实现这一目标，全体会议、海报会议和分组讨论小组将涉及代表行业、国家实验室、政府机构和学术界的参与者，他们将调查依赖于材料表征的特定应用领域的最新技术，并确定纳米尺度材料科学中普遍存在的关键研究问题。与表征纳米级材料和结构的可靠性相关的关键技术问题的路线图，以及可能的解决方法将以NIST特别出版物的形式开发和传播，该出版物将向公众提供。在纳米尺度上实现有用的设备、结构和材料有望促进从生物技术到能源和基础设施安全的各种应用。然而，这种认识目前受到许多材料科学和以纳米级可靠性为中心的工程障碍的限制。这个研讨会提供了一个机会来凝聚有前途的研究路线，并激发关于可实现的纳米技术的新思维。

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and University of Colorado will host a workshop in August 2007 in Boulder, CO to identify and discuss materials characterization and metrology issues of critical importance to assessing and improving the reliability of small-scale structures/materials for the next 5 to 10 years. To achieve this, plenary lectures, a poster session, and breakout discussion groups involving participants representing industry, national labs, government agencies, and academia will survey the state of the art in specific application areas dependent on materials characterization and identify critical research issues prevalent in nanoscale materials science. A roadmap of key technical issues associated with characterizing reliability of nanoscale materials and structures, and possible approaches to solution will be developed and disseminated in the form of a NIST Special Publication that will be made available to the public. The realization of useful devices, structures, and materials at the nanometer scale promises to facilitate diverse applications ranging from biotechnology to energy and infrastructure security. This realization, though, is currently limited by numerous materials science and engineering barriers centered on nanoscale reliability. This workshop offers an opportunity to congeal promising lines of inquiry and stimulate new thinking regarding realizable nanotechnology.