Introduction

The International Symposium on Functional Semiconductor Nanosystems (FSNS2003) will be held in Atsugi, Kanagawa prefecture in Japan, from 12 (Wed.) through 14 (Fri.), 2003. The ultra-small "nano-scale" materials with semiconducting properties have been focused great attention for many years. Recently, the field was largely advanced by integrating novel structures such like nanotubes, nanowires, and molecules, and also introducing new properties such like mechanics, elasticity and magnetism, as well as their coupled and interconnected structures. These novel "nanosystems" are expected to bring new functionality that cannot be given by conventional structures in semiconductor science and technology. The purpose of FSNS2003 is to provide an international forum on the latest progress related to these novel kind of nanostructures.

Scope