Thin films are extremely relevant both scientifically and technologically for several reasons. They provide a model system for studying the fundamental properties of materials, they enable the study of the properties of materials under controlled conditions (including extreme conditions), and they can be used to study the growth and properties of crystals. As a result, thin films find many different applications, including transistors, solar cells, microprocessors, displays, coatings for optical lenses, anti-corrosion coatings, and catalytic converters.

Having the possibility to control their composition and properties during deposition/etch or post deposition treatments offers both fundamental knowledge of the process and accelerates the optimization of the process protocols and the final properties of the materials. For these reasons, in situ characterization techniques are widely used and developed by the thin film community. In addition, data obtained in situ during deposition or post-processing of thin films can be used to accelerate the optimization of deposition/post-treatment conditions and properties thanks to machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI).

This symposium will bring together researchers using or interested in situ techniques during film processing, who are often dispersed amongst different symposia at application focused conferences, to highlight and discuss recent advancements in the field and to promote cross-fertilization between different in situ approaches.

atomic layer deposition chemical vapor deposition (CVD) (deposition) in situ infrared (IR) spectroscopy nanostructure physical vapor deposition (PVD) Raman spectroscopy spectroscopy thin film x-ray diffraction (XRD)