What Are IEEE Electrochemical and Solid-State Letters?

IEEE Electrochemical and Solid-State Letters was a peer-reviewed rapid-communication journal published jointly by The Electrochemical Society (ECS) and the IEEE Electron Devices Society from 1998 to 2012. The journal covered original research at the intersection of solid-state science, semiconductor device technology, and electrochemical science, publishing short-format papers designed to accelerate the dissemination of significant new findings. At the time of its founding, it was the first journal in its combined technical domains to publish papers online on acceptance, one article at a time, before assembling them into print issues.

The joint sponsorship between ECS and the IEEE Electron Devices Society reflected the overlapping nature of the journal's technical territory: electrochemical processes are central to semiconductor fabrication, battery science, and corrosion engineering, while solid-state physics and device engineering sit at the core of the IEEE Electron Devices Society's mandate. The collaboration produced a publication that served researchers working across the boundary between these two historically separate communities.

Technical Scope

The journal's scope encompassed the leading edge of research in electrochemical and solid-state science and technology. Coverage included electronic materials and their processing, dielectric science and thin-film characterization, carbon nanostructures and devices, semiconductor device structures, and advances in electronic and photonic components. Papers were limited to approximately four pages, a format constraint that prioritized high-impact findings with clear results over extended survey or tutorial content.

Electrochemical and Solid-State Letters indexed on IOP Science published work on lithium-ion battery materials and electrode chemistry alongside papers on silicon device processing and novel semiconductor compounds, illustrating the breadth of the combined scope. This combination made the journal a reference point for researchers in energy storage, semiconductor manufacturing, and surface electrochemistry who needed rapid access to advances across these intersecting fields.

Publication History and Transition

Volume 1 of the journal appeared in July 1998 and contained six issues. From Volume 2 onward, new volumes began in January with twelve issues per year. The journal operated for fifteen years, accumulating fifteen volumes before its final issue in 2012. The ECS publications archive preserves the full run, which remains accessible through IOP Science.

The discontinuation of the joint journal in 2012 reflected a strategic decision by ECS to separate the two major content streams and publish each through dedicated successor titles. ECS Electrochemistry Letters took over rapid-communication content in electrochemistry, while ECS Solid State Letters assumed the solid-state and semiconductor device content. This specialization allowed each successor to serve its technical community with more targeted editorial selection criteria.

Significance in Semiconductor and Electrochemical Research

The journal's combination of a short-paper format and online-first publication was ahead of its time when it launched in 1998. Rapid-communication journals existed in physics and chemistry, but the specific model of web-first, article-by-article posting was new for the combined electrochemical and solid-state domain. The format accelerated the pace at which results in battery electrode materials, semiconductor processing advances, and thin-film device physics moved from manuscript acceptance to citation. The IEEE Electron Devices Society, through its co-sponsorship, signaled the field's importance to electronic device engineering throughout this period.

Applications

Research published in IEEE Electrochemical and Solid-State Letters addressed technologies with applications in a wide range of fields, including:

• Lithium-ion battery development and electrode material optimization for portable electronics and electric vehicles
• Semiconductor device fabrication, including gate dielectric materials and advanced metallization processes
• Photovoltaic cell design and solar energy conversion efficiency improvements
• Sensors and MEMS devices that integrate electrochemical and solid-state transduction mechanisms
• Corrosion protection and surface treatment processes for electronics packaging and interconnect reliability