1991 BURCH,CR PRIZE - APPLICATIONS OF ELECTRON-ENERGY LOSS SPECTROSCOPY IN SURFACE SCIENCE

This paper reviews some of the areas in which high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS) can be used to investigate both the vibrational and electronic excitations at surfaces and interfaces. Although traditionally HREELS has mainly been used to study the structure and orientation of molecules adsorbed at metal surfaces, improvements in the performance of current day spectrometers have extended the range of applications enormously. Results obtained from studying a variety of systems are highlighted in this review including (i) the determination of the adsorption site of an ordered adsorbate overlayer, (ii) investigating the angular dependence of vibrational excitation in chemisorbed molecules via temporary negative ion formation, (iii) characterising the structure and orientation of polyimide precursors and related compounds at metal surfaces and (iv) probing the near-surface region of buried semiconductor interfaces.