It applies to IC technology, but also to fields like catalysis, fuel cells, cathodes and adhesion. The research in the group includes fundamental, instrumental and applied-oriented work. In all cases the outermost atomic layer of a surface or interface plays an important role. The composition of the outermost atomic layer of a solid generally differs greatly from that in the bulk of the material because of surface segregation. It is precisely this outer layer that largely de-termines chemical reactivity, adhesion and electron emission.
Surface energy depends strongly on the crystal-lographic orientation of the surface.
For small par-ticles and highly dispersed structures minimization of surface energy often determines the structure of the outer layer. Using low-energy ion scattering we could establish that in mixed oxides often only one crystallographic plane having only one type of cation is exposed at the surface. The findings have a direct correlation with the chemical properties. Considering the size of the economic impact of friction, it is surprising how little is known about its origin. UHV-AFM research is carried out on single crystals of diamond terminated with different chemical species to investigate friction at an atomic scale.