Nano Surface Physics
Convenor: Gavin Bell
Module Code: NS1
Module available for self-study in the 23/24 year. The deadline for submitting work (which you must do to get MPAGS credit) is Monday 11th March, i.e. week 10 of Warwick's spring term. I will not consider any work submitted after this. I will be available to answer questions on the forum in the spring term but you can start any time.
Direct link to MPAGS Moodle. Non-Warwick students: to access Moodle you need a Warwick IT Services temporary account. Contact Roz on physicspg@warwick.ac.uk .
A copy of the Moodle book to give you an overview of the module.
Module Details
The aim is to introduce students to aspects of surface physics and thin films. It will not involve much "advanced" condensed matter physics, building on undergraduate CMP understanding. The course will be delivered via Warwick's Moodle. Students from other institutions will be able to sign up for the module's Moodle page using their local email address. You will do guided reading (main text: Modern Techniques of Surface Science, D.P. Woodruff) and formative problem sets. Final assessment will be via an upload of solutions to problems.
Section 1: Introduction
- How the online module works.
Section 2: Introduction and surface and thin-film structure
- Motivation, ultra-high vacuum, electron and X-ray interactions with surfaces.
- Crystallography: from bulk to surface.
- Surface relaxation and reconstruction.
- Case studies of surface reconstruction.
Section 3: Electron diffraction
- Reciprocal net and Ewald sphere construction.
- Low energy electron diffraction (LEED).
- Reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED).
- Case studies of LEED and RHEED pattern interpretation.
Section 4: Surface structure determination
- Quantitative electron diffraction: LEED I-V.
- Surface X-ray diffraction.
- Ion scattering.
Section 5: Surface chemical composition
- X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).