Postgraduate Lectures - Course PY5003: Surface Science

Lecturer: I.T. McGovern

• Why Surface Science; Surface Science and vacuum; fundamentals of vacuum; kinetic theory and gas flow; conductance, pumping speed and throughput; rate of evacuation
• Pressure measurement: Pirani and thermocouple gauges; Bayard-Alpert ionisation gauge; Penning ionisation gauge; residual gas analysis; important gases
• Pumps: rotary pump; oil diffusion pump; turbo(molecula)r pump; sorption and cryo pumps; sublimation pumps; ion(isation) pumps
• Chamber design: pumping speed, leaks and outgassing; chamber materials; outgassing rates; welding and surface finish; conflat flanges; swagelok fittings; KF flanges; bakeout facilities
• Vacuum fittings: bellows concept; valves; linear motion drives; rotary drives; viewport; power, therocouple and cooling feedthroughs
• Surface structure I: Miller indices; unit meshes; reconstruction; Wood's notation; surface domains; reciprocal lattices
• Surface structure II: low energy electron diffraction (LEED); LEED apparatus; I-V curves; spot profiles; reflection high enenergy electron diffraction (RHEED); photoelectron diffraction
• Surface Characterisation I: surface sensitivity of electrons; photoelectron fundamentals; x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS); spectral contributions; quantiative analysis; chemical shift; electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA)
• Surface Characterisation II: Auger electron spectroscopy (AES); derivative spectrum; scanning Auger microscopy (SAM); ion-etch depth profiling; secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS); dynamic SIMS; raster-lens-gate technique; ion surface scattering (ISS)
• Ion/electron analysers: retarding Field (LEED) analyser; cylindrical mirror analyser (CMA); concentric hemispherical analyser (CHA); magnetic deflection analyser (MDA); time of flight analyser (TOF); quadrupole mass spectrometer (QMA); ion/electron detectors
• Scanning probe microscopy: scanning tunneling microscope (STM); basic principles; constant height and current modes; simple models; beyond Bardeen model; atomic force microscopy; other probes
• Surface preparation: degreasing and pre-etch; abrasion, fracture, cleaving; thermal desorption; ion etching; chemical reaction; gas exposure; evaporation; magnetron sputtering; knudsen cells; quartz crystal monitor