AVS: Science and Technology of Materials, Interfaces, and Processing (formerly American Vacuum Society) is a not-for-profit learned society

Learned society

A learned society is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline/profession, as well a group of disciplines. Membership may be open to all, may require possession of some qualification, or may be an honor conferred by election, as is the case with the oldest learned societies,...

 founded in 1953. AVS is a member society of the American Institute of Physics

American Institute of Physics

The American Institute of Physics promotes science, the profession of physics, publishes physics journals, and produces publications for scientific and engineering societies. The AIP is made up of various member societies...

. AVS has approximately 5000 members worldwide from academia

Academia

Academia is the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research.-Etymology:The word comes from the akademeia in ancient Greece. Outside the city walls of Athens, the gymnasium was made famous by Plato as a center of learning...

, government

Government

Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...

al laboratories and industry

Industry

Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...

. AVS publishes through the American Institute of Physics the Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology (JVST A and B), which is devoted to peer-reviewed

Peer review

Peer review is a process of self-regulation by a profession or a process of evaluation involving qualified individuals within the relevant field. Peer review methods are employed to maintain standards, improve performance and provide credibility...

articles, and Surface Science Spectra (SSS), which publishes articles with reference spectra of technological and scientific interest. AVS has 10 technical divisions and 2 technical groups:

• Advanced Surface Engineering Division
• Applied Surface Science Division
• Biomaterial Interfaces Division
• Electronic Materials and Processing Division
• Magnetic Interfaces and Nanostructures Division
• Nanometer-Scale Science and Technology Division
• Plasma Science and Technology Division
• Surface Science Division
• Thin Film Division
• Vacuum Technology Division
• AVS Technical Groups Division
• Manufacturing Science & Technology Technical Group (MSTG)
• MEMS and NEMS Technical Group