This issue contains peer-reviewed papers accepted for the 5th International Conference on Nanojoining and Microjoining, NMJ 2020. The NMJ 2020 conference was scheduled to take place in Leipzig, Germany, in September 2020, and we were looking forward to the traditionally fruitful scientific exchange and discussion on the rapidly evolving topic of nano- and microjoining technologies. COVID-19 ended up affecting our plans, as well as those of all other people on the planet. Since this rather small conference is enhanced by the deepened personal, international scientific dialogues and exchanges, the organizing committee decided to postpone this conference in the hope that the common meeting of the community will be possible. At the time of this publishing deadline, a new date has not yet been set.

In order to maintain the exchange of knowledge, to provide quick access to the latest research results, and to promote the common progress in this rather new scientific discipline, we decided to publish in this special issue focus (Issue 1) the already completed research papers, which were scheduled for presentation in September 2020. The other selection of papers, with more recent results, is planned to be published in a follow-up issue (Issue 2) after the conference. Both issues should give the reader an insight into the main topics of the conference, which are: integration of nano-/microscale materials and devices, nano- and microjoining for assembly of implantable medical devices, materials science of nanojoining and microjoining and technological process issues, and development of testing methods for nano-/microjoint characterization.

We wish to thank the JMEP editorial office and the ASM journal staff for their understanding and flexibility in light of our modified, situation-based publishing plans. We are especially grateful to the editor-in-chief of JMEP, Dr. Rajiv Asthana, for his enthusiasm and support for having two special issues—the present one for the as-planned NMJ 2020 and the later one, most likely in 2022. We would also like to sincerely thank Kate Doman, Content Developer for ASM Journals, for her excellent, professional, and friendly support with the planning, weekly monitoring, and the publication of this special issue.

We also wish to thank all the authors for their interesting manuscripts and to acknowledge the reviewers for their careful reading and evaluation of the manuscripts as well as valuable suggestions for improving the quality of the papers.

We anticipate that this special issue will significantly advance the science and technology of micro- and nanojoining and wish you an inspiring read of the valuable content. We hope this collection will awaken further interest in this fascinating topic and promote further research on nano- and microjoining.

Finally, we very much look forward to meeting you in person at the conference!

  • Jolanta Janczak-Rusch

  • Senior Scientist, Laboratory for Joining Technologies & Corrosion

  • Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology

  • Dübendorf, Switzerland 

  • Contact e-mail: jolanta.janczak-rusch@empa.ch