Surfaces and Interfaces

The lecture will cover various important topics of surfaces and interfaces:
1. Thermodynamic basics of surfaces
(surface energies, curved surfaces (Kelvin equation, partial pressure of liquid droplets), wetting and contact angle (Young equ.))
2. Geometric structure
(crystallographic orientation of surfaces, description of superstructures, reconstruction, relaxation)
3. Diffraction at surfaces: LEED, RHEED
4. Adsorption at surfaces
(physisorption, chemisorption, Langmuir isotherm, BET, temperature programmed desorption)
5. Probing surfaces with electrons
(Diffraction, spectroscopy with electrons, electron-induced reactions)

After attending the course the participants shall...
- know the special thermodynamic features of surfaces and apply the corresponding concepts and equations
- predict the atomic arrangement of differently oriented surfaces based on basic structural data and information on relaxation and reconstruction
- predict the diffraction pattern of differently oriented surfaces and know advanced options to use LEED and RHEED for the determination of surface structures
- judge the relevance of electrons to study surfaces, be able to enumerate the different experimental possibilities to probe structure and composition, and differentiate between several mechanisms of electron-induced surface reactions

written exam

Hans Lüth: Solid Surfaces, Interfaces and Thin Films (Springer, Berlin, 2010)
K.W. Kolasinski: Surface Science (Wiley, Chichester, 2004)