Methods of Surface Characterization - Böcker

Determining the elemental composition of surfaces is an essential measurement in characterizing solid surfaces. Typically, atoms and molecules on the surface and in the near surface region may be excited by photons, electrons, ions, or neutrals, and the detected particles are emitted, ejected, or scattered ions or electrons.

Written with engineers and researchers in mind, author W. Suetka offers a well-illustrated, basic reference on the use of infrared (IR) and Raman spectroscopy in the investigation of surfaces of practical materials. This book only requires a basic knowledge of vibrational spectroscopy for understanding the included discussions. Chapters illustrate applications of IR and Raman spectroscopy in the investigation of a variety of real surfaces. Featured in this volume are the typical results obtained for species on clean and well-defined surfaces in ultrahigh vacuum environments.

This work is intended for professionals, researchers, technicians and students who are newcomers to the PR field as well as those with experience. The fields include those in surface science, electronic materials and processes, thin film deposition, surface compositional analysis and related topical areas such as corrosion, oxidation, reduction, adsorption, desorption, adhesion, epitaxial growth and contamination. The presentation uses a tutorial and pedagogical approach.

Many books are available that detail the basic principles of the different methods of surface characterization. On the other hand, the scientific literature provides a resource of how individual pieces of research are conducted by particular labo- tories. Between these two extremes the literature is thin but it is here that the present volume comfortably sits. Both the newcomer and the more mature scientist will find in these chapters a wealth of detail as well as advice and general guidance of the principal phenomena relevant to the study of real samples. In the analysis of samples, practical analysts have fairly simple models of how everything works. Superimposed on this ideal world is an understanding of how the parameters of the measurement method, the instrumentation, and the char- teristics of the sample distort this ideal world into something less precise, less controlled, and less understood. The guidance given in these chapters allows the scientist to understand how to obtain the most precise and understood measu- ments that are currently possible and, where there are inevitable problems, to have clear guidance as the extent of the problem and its likely behavior.

Written as a tutorial guide for newcomers to the field of surface analysis, this work is the first book ever published to feature photon, electron, and ion beam effects and beam damage to solids during surface and near-surface analysis and depth profiling. This introductory text describes the principles, techniques, and methods vital for efficient surface analysis. A wealth of practical information is assembled in this single volume, including summary tables, extensive references, and 251 illustrative figures.

Determining the elemental composition of surfaces is an essential measurement in characterizing solid surfaces. At present, many ap­ proaches may be applied for measuring the elemental and molecular composition of a surface. Each method has particular strengths and limitations that often are directly connected to the physical processes involved. Typically, atoms and molecules on the surface and in the near surface region may be excited by photons, electrons, ions, or neutrals, and the detected particles are emitted, ejected, or scattered ions or electrons. The purpose of this book is to bring together a discussion of the surface compositional analysis that depends on detecting scattered or sputtered ions, and the methods emphasized are those where instruments are commercially available for carrying out the analysis. For each topic treated, the physical principles, instrumentation, qualitative analysis, artifacts, quantitative analysis, applications, opportunities, and limita­ tions are discussed. The first chapter provides an overview of the role of elemental composition in surface science; compositional depth profiling; stimulation by an electric field, electrons, neutrals, or photons and detection of ions; and then stimulation by ions, and detection of ions, electrons, photons, or neutrals.

The observation of the vibrational spectra of adsorbed species provides one of the most incisive methods for und erst an ding chemical and physical phenomena on surfaces. At the present time, many approaches may be applied to studies of molecular vibrations on surfaces. Some of these are used on high-area solids of technological importance (e.g., heterogeneous catalysts) while others are applied to single-crystal substrates to gain better understanding under conditions of controlled surface structure. This book has attempted to bring together in one place a discussion of the major methods used to measure vibrational spectra of surface species. The emphasis is on basic concepts and experimental methods rather than a current survey of the extensive literature in this field. Two introductory chapters describe the basic theoretical aspects of vibrational spectroscopy on surfaces, dealing with normal modes and excitation mechanisms in vibrational spectroscopy. The remaining seven chapters deal with various methods employed to observe surface vibra­ tions. These are arranged in an order that first treats the use of various methods on surfaces that are not of the single-crystal type. It is in this area that the field first got started in the late 1940s with pioneering work by Terenin and others in the Soviet Union, and by Eisehens and others in the United States in the 1950s. The last four chapters deal with relatively recent methods that permit vibrational studies to be made on single­ crystal substrates.

With the development in the 1960s of ultrahigh vacuum equipment and techniques and electron, X-ray, and ion beam techniques to determine the structure and composition of interfaces, activities in the field of surface science grew nearly exponentially. Today surface science impacts all major fields of study from physical to biological sciences, from physics to chemistry, and all engineering disciplines. The materials and phenomena characterized by surface science range from se- conductors, where the impact of surface science has been critical to progress, to metals and ceramics, where selected contributions have been important, to bio- terials, where contributions are just beginning to impact the field, to textiles, where the impact has been marginal. With such a range of fields and applications, questions about sample selection, preparation, treatment, and handling are difficult to cover completely in one review article or one chapter. Therefore, the editors of this book have assembled a range of experts with experience in the major fields impacted by surface characterization. It is the only book which treats the subject of sample handling, preparation, and treatment for surface characterization. It is full of tricks, cautions, and handy tips to make the laboratory scientist’s life easier. With respect to organization of the book, the topics range from discussion of vacuum to discussion of biological, organic, elemental or compound samples, to samples prepared ex situ or in situ to the vacuum, to deposition ofthin films. Generic considerations of sample preparation are also given.