Annual report 1995

The Commission organized a very successful Winter Workshop on Electron Diffraction and Imaging at Surfaces in Arizona, USA, 3-6 January 1996. The Organizing Committee was chaired by Professor M. A. Van Hove with Professor A. Ichimiya as the Vice-Chair. About 75 people attended what was judged to be a most successful and well organized workshop. There were 16 invited speakers from five countries (Germany, Japan, Russian, UK, USA). It was supported by a grant from the IUCr.

Professors J. W. Steeds, D. L. Dorset and M. A. Van Hove have been involved with the organization of Microsymposia for the Seattle Congress. Professor J. W. Steeds is chairing a session on Strain Measurement and is the Organizing Committee member responsible for the session on Characterization of Defects, Microstructure and Texture. Professor D. L. Dorset is chair of the session entitled Methods of Structure Determination and Organizing Committee member responsible for the session on Direct Methods of Phase Determination from Surfaces.

The Commission has decided to seek a redefinition of its area of responsibility and believes that the best interests of the gas electron diffraction community, at present associated with this Commission, would be served by transfer to the Commission on Small Molecules. We are at present investigating the possibility of this transfer.

One of our members, Professor D. L. Dorset, has recently published a book entitled Structural Electron Crystallography with Plenum Press. This is particularly timely because there is considerable growth of interest at present on the levels of quantitative accuracy that can now be achieved by electron diffraction in modern electron microscopes.