Course detail

Characterization of Surfaces and Thin Films

CEITEC VUT-DS137AAcad. year: 2024/2025

1. Bonds in solids (ionic, covalent, van der Waals, metallic), crystalline and amorphous materials, type of materials (ceramics, glasses, metals, polymers, composites) • 2. Physics at surfaces (surface tension, electronics of surfaces, work function, surface states, thermoemission, adsorption, chemisorption, methods for preparation of clean surfaces) • 3. Interaction of photons with materials and principles of spectroscopic characterization methods (Mössbauer effect, photoeffect, spectrophotometry and ellipsometry, Ramanova spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, NMR, EPR) • 4. Interaction of particle beams (electrons, neutrons, ions/atoms) with condensed matter • 5. Electron spectroscopy (electron sources, energy analysers, ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Auger spectroscopy, spectroscopy of energy losses) • 6. Ion beam methods (ion sources, mass analyzers, Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy - RBS, elastic recoil detection analysis - ERDA, nuclear resonance reaction analysis - NRA, secondary ion mass spectrometry - SIMS, fast atom bombardment - FAB, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization - MALDI)

 

Language of instruction

English

Mode of study

Not applicable.

Entry knowledge

Basics of quantum mechanics, solid state physics, and optics.

 

Rules for evaluation and completion of the course

The course is finished by the colloquium. Requirements for completion:
 - read and understand an English scientific paper focused on thin films or surface characterization,
 - comment and discuss the selected scientific paper in own oral presentation,
 - show the knowledge of the subject in a written test.

 

 

Aims

The course provides a comprehensive overview of physical methods for characterizing surfaces and thin films. By the end of this course, the student will be able to: explain the differences between materials; describe the processes involved in the interaction of electromagnetic radiation or particle beams with materials; make informed decisions about the approach to the analysis of thin films and surfaces in terms of the choice of methods and their sequence.

 

 

Study aids

Not applicable.

Prerequisites and corequisites

Not applicable.

Basic literature

Flewitt, P. E. J. a Wild, R. K. Physical methods for materials characterisation. Bristol: Institute of Physics Publishing, 1994. xvi, 517. ISBN 0750303204.

Recommended reading

Not applicable.