Characterization of solid surfaces

XPS and AES are now among the most often applied techniques in the characterization of solid surfaces [15]. UPS is a typical surface science method best suited for fundamental studies on single crystals. All three spectroscopies give surface sensitive information. 

SIMS and SNMS are versatile analytical techniques for the compositional characterization of solid surfaces and interfaces in materials research.92-94 As one of the most important applications, both surface analytical techniques allow depth profile analysis (concentration profile as a function of the depth analyzed) to be performed in materials science and the semiconductor industry with excellent depth resolution in the low nm range. For depth profiling in materials science, dynamic SIMS and SNMS using high primary ion beam doses are applied. Both techniques permit the analysis of light elements such as H, , C and N, which are difficult to measure with other analytical techniques. 

SAMPLE PREPARATION FOR MICROSCOPIC AND SPECTROSCOPIC CHARACTERIZATION OF SOLID SURFACES AND FILMS... 

Application of the Mossbauer effect, which is essentially a bulk phenomenon, to the study of surfaces has received significant attention in recent years. The usefulness of this technique lies in its ability to determine the electronic environment and symmetry of the surface nucleus, and it offers a method of investigation that is clearly complementary to other physical methods for the characterization of solid surfaces. Mossbauer spectroscopy has the attractive advantage that it may be used at a variety of pressures and can be applied to the study of heterogeneous catalysis and adsorption processes to probe the nature of the solid surface and its electronic modification when holding adsorbed species. 

The fundamental theoretical questions underlying the wetting of a solid surface by a liquid drop have been described and discussed. These theoretical principles can be directly applied to practice along two main lines (a) characterization of solid surfaces in terms of their surface tension and (b) designing processes based on controlling wettability properties. The following points summarize current understanding for each of these two directions. 

Applications of Photoluminescence Techniques to the Characterization of Solid Surfaces in Relation to Adsorption, Catalysis, and Photocatalysis... 

Mukhopadhyay, S.M. (2003) Sample preparation for microscopic and spectroscopic characterization of solid surfaces and films. In Mirta, S. (Ed.) Sample Preparation Techniques in Analytical Chemistry. Chichester John Wiley Sons, pp. 377-410. 

The molecular spectroscopy of adsorbed cations and anions has two principal subdivisions (1) invasive methods (such as X-ray photoelectron or secondary-ion mass spectrometry) that require sample desiccation and high vacuum and (2) noninvasive methods that require little or no alteration of a sample from its received condition. Invasive methods have an important role to play in the characterization of solid surfaces (27), but to use them for resolving surface speciation on particles in aqueous systems simply begs the question. 

Solid surfaces have been found to exhibit fractal morphology. A study of the quality and accuracy of the methods based on frequency analysis for the fractal characterization of solid surfaces was carried out by STM. The study was based on computer simulation of images of fractal surfaces. Measurement of the fractal character of a surface in the microscope range has specific problems. The most important is that the images of a given solid surface arise from the projections of the surface topography in which the vertical dimension is unknown, whereas from both STM and AFM we can obtain the vertical dimensions. 

P. F. Kane and G. B. Larrabee, Characterization of Solid Surfaces, Plenum Press, New York, 1976. 

Kane, P. F. Larrabee, G. B., Ed. "Characterization of Solid Surfaces Plenum Press, New York 1974. 

H Shiku, Y Hara, T Takeda, T Matsue, I Uchida. Microfabrication and characterization of solid surfaces patterned with enzymes or antigen-antibodies by scanning electrochemical microscopy. In G Jerkiewiecz, MP Soriaga, K Uosaki, A Wieckowski, eds. Solid-Liquid Electrochemical Interfaces. Washington, DC ACS, 1997, pp 202-209. 

Microcalorimetric NH3 adsorption is one of the powerful techniques for energetic characterization of solid surfaces and provides a direct and accurate method for the quantitative determination of the number of acid sites of different strengths. Microcalorimetry invplves the measurement of differential heats evolved updn adsorption of smeill quantities (micromoles) of basic probe molecules on to the catalysts. Such measurement yields information about the acid strength distribution i.e., the number of sites having the particular heat of adsorption for the basic probe molecule. 

Figure 17.3.9 Schematic view of the Auger emission process from silicon. The atom is ionized initially by an incident electron. That electron and one from the K shell leave the sample as energy loss electrons. The energies of the levels relative to the Fermi level, Ep (Sections 3.6.3 and 18.2), are given on the left. [From C. C. Chang in Characterization of Solid Surfaces, ...

Kane, P.F. and Larrabee, G.B., Editor Characterization of Solid Surfaces, by Plenum Press, New York 2nd Printing (1976). 

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