ABOUT SIMS

Scope of the Annual Workshop on Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS)

The annual SIMS workshop is a yearly scientific meeting designed to provide an informal forum for the interchange of practical information about secondary ion mass spectrometry. Typically, one or two themes are chosen for a given year, such as time-of-flight SIMS or semiconductor applications. However, the organizing committee strives to have a balance of topic areas each year to appeal to the broad range of interests within our community. The main goal is to provide as informal an atmosphere as possible for the members of our community to meet, exchange new ideas, and renew personal and professional relationships. Events, such as the nighttime dinner cruises and extended poster sessions, are an essential part of the Workshop. In addition, it is the firm belief of the organizing committee that our future lies in the education of future members our community. Each year we provide as much support, in the form of reduced registrations fees, travel support, and awards as possible to full-time students.

History of the Annual Workshop on SIMS

Until the start of the Annual SIMS Workshops, there was no regular forum for the U.S. SIMS community, other than the International Conference on SIMS. While the international conference is the premier international forum for SIMS, the meetings are held biannually and only visit the United States every 6-8 years. When the meeting is at an international venue it is often difficult for many members of the US SIMS community to travel. Recognizing these limitations, the founders of the SIMS workshop (Richard Lareau, Greg Gillen, and Steve Hues) wanted to provide a venue for an informal gathering of the local SIMS community for discussions relating to the fundamental aspects, instrumentation and applications of SIMS and organized the first East Coast SIMS Workshop which was held at the U.S. Army Research Lab in Fort Monmouth, NJ in 1988. Based on the interest generated by first meeting, the meeting has since been held each year. Attendance as increased from ~40 the first year to approximately 160 for the most recent meeting. .

Previous Locations for the Annual Workshop on SIMS 
1988 U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Fort Monmouth, NJ. 
1989 NIST, Gaithersburg, MD 
1990 Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C. 
1991 AT&T, Murray Hill, NJ 
1992 Hidden Valley Mountain Resort, Somerset, PA 
1993 IBM, East Fishkill, NY 
1994 MCNC, Research Triangle Park, NC 
1995 Split Rock Resort, Lake Harmony, PA 
1996 Sheraton Hotel, Burlington, VT 
1997 In conjunction with SIMS XI, Orlando FL 
1998 Omni Hotel-Downtown, Austin, TX (May 10-12, 1998) 
1999 Gaithersburg, MD April 25-28, 1999 
2000 Lake Tahoe, CA April 30- May 3, 2000 
2001 Phoenix, AZ May 13 - May 16, 2001 
2002 Clearwater Beach, FL April 29 - May 2, 2002
2003 In conjunction with SIMS XIV, San Diego CA
2004 Westminster, CO May 17-20, 2004
2005 Hilton Head, SC May 2-5-2005
2005  Manchester, UK  International SIMS, SIMS XV, September 12-16, 2005
2006 Ocean Reef Club, FL May 15-18, 2006, 20th Anniversary

It was hoped that a similar organization would soon evolve on the west coast. However, the East Coast Workshop started to attract attendees from across the US and abroad and, in 1994, the name was changed to The Annual Workshop on SIMS to reflect this growing national and international flavor. The Annual Workshop on SIMS was also formally incorporated in 1996 as a not-for-profit educational corporation in the State of New Jersey allowing us to more readily deal with the growing organizational and financial arrangements involved with each year's meeting. In addition to incorporation, the workshop also has contracted with a professional management company to handle the details of each workshop and to provide administrative support throughout the year. One of the strong points of the SIMS community is the close professional and personal relationships shared among it's members. Our community has always shown a strong willingness to share our knowledge and resources with each other. In order to provide a convenient forum to facilitate information exchange among our community, the Workshop also created and operates the SIMS List server (for rapid e-mail communication) and this SIMS WWW site.

For more information about the SIMS Workshop please contact: 

Greg Gillen
NIST
Phone: 301-975-2190
FAX: 301-417- 1321
Email: greg.gillen@nist.gov

Steve Hues
Micron Technology, Inc.
8000 S. Federal Way
PO Box 6
Mail Stop: 1-717
Boise, ID United States
83707-0006
(208) 363-3067 
Email: shues@micron.com