Ternary and Multinary Compounds.

The 19th International Conference on Ternary and Multinary Compounds (ICTMC-19) was held on 1-5 September 2014 at Toki Messe, Niigata, Japan. This conference, part of the series of conferences that began in 1973 in Bath, was held traditionally as an interdisciplinary forum for the exchange of information and experience in the exciting field of materials science of ternary and multinary compounds. It was then held in Strasbourg (1975), Edinburgh (1977), Tokyo (1980), Cagliari (1982), Caracas (1984), Snowmass (1986), Kishinev (1990), Yokohama (1993), Stuttgart (1995), Salford (1997), Hsin-chu (2000), Paris (2002), Denver (2004), Kyoto (2006), Berlin (2008), Baku (2010), and Salzburg (2012). The conference brought together researchers for the discussion of the latest developments and achievements in the field of these complex materials. The scientific program included two plenary talks, 20 invited talks, 13 symposium talks, 50 oral presentations, and 112 poster presentations from the following 15 countries: Japan, Taiwan, Azerbaijan, Germany, Korea, Thailand, USA, Philippines, France, Belgium, China, Mexico, Moldova, Turkey, and UK. Of the papers, 95 are included in the present proceedings volumes of physica status solidi. The Conference covered physics, chemistry, materials science, device engineering, and the growth and theory of various ternary and multinary compounds: chalcopyrite-type (I-III-VI₂, II-IV-V₂), kesterite-type (I₂-II-IV-VI₄), sphalerite-type and wurtzite-type (III-V, II-VI, etc.), perovskite-type, skutterudite-type, complex-oxides, complex-nitrides, and so on. Three symposiums in the conference were focused on new photovoltaic materials superior to CIGS, advanced characterization of solar cells, and mulitinary materials in the next generation. The Program Committee picked up three young members as the winners of the 'Best Young Scientists Award' for their excellent presentations. The winners are Galina Gurieva, Ayaka Kanai, and Tsuyoshi Maeda. The Guest Editors wish to express their gratitude to the members of the International Advisor Committee, the Program Committee, the sponsors, the Japanese Professional Group of Multinary Compounds and Solar Cells in the Japanese Society of Applied Physics, and thank all those who have contributed to this conference for their support and advice. We are very grateful to the referees for their contributions during the editorial process. The next anniversary conference of ICTMC-20 will be held in Germany, chaired by Prof. Roland Scheer. We convey our best wishes to the organizers for a successful meeting. (© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]