A method for the determination of the structure and composition of solid surfaces in real time and in a spatially resolved manner is the subject of this research project in the laboratory of Professor J. Wayne Rabalais at the University of Houston. The Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program provides support for these studies of scattering and recoiling imaging spectrometry (SARIS) for the real time analysis of solid surfaces. Development of modelling and interpretive methodology is a focus of the present research, and application to a wide range of surface analysis and thin film growth problems is being carried out. Completion of a new instrument for SARIS studies is expected shortly, and applications in several areas of materials science form the focus of the work of this research project. Real time, spatially resolved information about the structure and composition of solid surfaces is crucial to the understanding of a very wide range of important technological problems, ranging from semiconductor device fabrication to heterogeneous catalysis. Ion scattering spectrometry is being developed as a method for the real time spatially resolved analysis of solid surfaces. This research combines instrumental development, calculational modelling for the interpretation of experimental results, and application to a wide variety of important surface analysis problems to provide a wide ranging project of significant technical import. Significant applications of this methodology in the analysis of electronic materials are to be expected.
