Surfaces and Interfaces

The module will cover fundamental topics of Surface Science:
- Geometric structure of crystalline solid surfaces (crystallographic orientation of surfaces, description of superstructures, reconstruction, relaxation)
- Basic thermodynamics of surfaces and interfaces (surface tension, stress and strain, Wulff construction, liquid-gas interfaces, Young-Laplace equation, Kelvin equation, wetting and contact angle)
- Adsorption at surfaces (physisorption, chemisorption, Langmuir isotherm, BET)

After attending the module, the students will have an overview over concepts in surface science. The participants will
- be able to enumerate different experimental possibilities to probe structure and composition of solid surfaces
- predict the atomic arrangement of differently oriented surfaces based on information on surface reconstruction and adsorbate superstructures
- interpret electron diffraction patterns from solid surfaces to extract information on lattice symmetries and constants
- know the special thermodynamic features of surfaces and apply the corresponding concepts and equations

The course ends with a written module examination. The contents of all three courses will be examined.

written exam

Atkins/De Paula; Atkins` Physical Chemistry, Oxford University Press 2006
Oura/Lifshits/Saranin/Zotov/Katayama; Surface Science, Springer 2003
Zangwill; Physics at Surfaces, Cambridge University Press 1988 (eBook)
Lüth; Solid Surfaces, Interfaces and Thin Films, Springer 2015

1st SWS: Introduction (Technological relevance of surfaces and interfaces, surface science approach)
2nd SWS: Geometric structure of crystalline solid surfaces I (Ideal surfaces, Miller indices, Bravais lattices)
3rd SWS: Geometric structure of crystalline solid surfaces II (Relaxation and reconstruction)
4th SWS: Geometric structure of crystalline solid surfaces III (Superstructures)
5th SWS: Geometric structure of crystalline solid surfaces IV (Surface defects)
6th SWS: Structure – Experimental methods (Overview)
7th SWS: Electron diffraction I (Basics, LEED)
8th SWS: Electron diffraction II (RHEED, applications of LEED and RHEED)
9th SWS: Thermodynamics I (Surface tension, stress and strain)
10th SWS: Thermodynamics II (Wulff construction)
11th SWS: Thermodynamics III (liquid-gas interfaces, Young-Laplace equation)
12th SWS: Thermodynamics IV (Kelein equation, liquid-solid interfaces, wetting and contact angle)
13th SWS: Adsorption I (Physisorption, chemisorption)
14th SWS: Adsorption II (Kinetics, isotherms)