Change of Guard at SPIE Journal
In 1985, I presented my first paper at an SPIE conference on lithography. It was the perfect venue for my work — a topical meeting of people who have the same interests as me, eager to communicate their latest results. That remains the paradigm for SPIE conferences to this day.
After publishing a few papers in conference proceedings, I decided I had some work deserving of a peer-reviewed publication. But unlike the SPIE conferences that were the perfect fit for the work I did, there was no journal that matched the topic.
Over the next 15 years, I published lithography papers in many journals: Optical Engineering, Applied Optics, Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology, Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, and others. Every time, I felt like an orphan. My lithography papers were surrounded by good papers that I had no interest in — and I’m sure that most readers of those journals felt the same way about my papers. Lithography had no peer-reviewed home.
That all changed in 2002, with the first issue of the Journal of Microlithography, Microfabrication, and Microsystems, known as JM3 (now the Journal of Micro/Nanolithography, MEMS, and MOEMS). Finally, there was a home for peer-reviewed publications in lithography that fit perfectly.
Ten years after that first issue, I am taking over as editor-in-chief of JM3 from Burn Lin, the founding editor. I have big shoes to fill. Burn established the journal’s scope and tenor, building an incredible team of volunteer senior and associate editors, and soliciting papers to establish and develop the journal, and he created a much needed home for science and engineering work in lithography, micro- and nanofabrication, microsystems, MEMS and MOEMS.
I am honored — and just a bit daunted — to carry on his work. How can we improve upon a journal that is already a flagship?
I have a few ideas. First, there are still many papers published in SPIE conference proceedings that are important enough and good enough for peer-reviewed publication. I hope to encourage more conference authors to consider the value of submitting their work to JM3.
Second, I’d like to expand the scope of paper types published in JM3. The vast majority of papers that we publish are regular and special-section papers, as expected (though I hope to increase the number of special sections significantly in the coming years). I am surprised, though, at how few letters and review papers are published. These valuable communication tools are definitely underutilized in our community.
I’d like to consider adding some new categories as well, such as tutorials and commentaries.
Do you have any ideas? I’d love to hear about them.
My goal is simple: to increase the value of JM3 by increasing the quality, relevance, and (possibly) quantity of papers published.
As I begin my new adventure, I look forward to serving our community of authors and readers to the best of my ability.
–Edited excerpt from “A Change of the Guard,” the Journal of Micro/Nanolithography, MEMS, and MOEMS 11, 010101 (2012).
Special sections of JM3The April–June 2012 issue of the Journal of Micro/Nanolithography, MEMS, and MOEMS has two special sections.
A special section on EUV sources for lithography is guest edited by Vivek Bakshi of EUV Litho (USA) and SPIE Fellow Anthony Yen of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
Guest editors of a special section on reliability, packaging, testing, and characterization of MEMS and MOEMS are Sonia M. García-Blanco of University of Twente (Netherlands) and Rajeshuni Ramesham of the Jet Propulsion Lab (USA).
SPIE President-Elect William Arnold of ASML US and Daniel P. Sanders of IBM (USA) are guest editors of a special section on directed self-assembly that will be published in JM3 in July.
Have a question or comment about this article? Write to us at spieprofessional@spie.org.
To receive a print copy of SPIE Professional, the SPIE member magazine, become an SPIE member.
