Surface and Interface Science

6 EC

Semester 2, period 5

5354SUIS6Y

Owner Master Physics and Astronomy (joint degree)
Coordinator prof. dr. J.W.M. Frenken
Part of Master Physics and Astronomy, track Advanced Matter and Energy Physics, year 1

Course manual 2016/2017

Course content

Many properties of solids are strongly influenced or even determined by the behavior of the outermost atomic layers of the material. Yet, surfaces form a relatively young field of research in both physics and chemistry. In this course, we will go through a wide collection of surface phenomena and surface properties, such as the geometrical structure, the electronic structure, surface phonons, surface diffusion, adsorption and desorption, phase transitions, and crystal growth. Throughout the course, we pay ample attention to surface specific experimental techniques, such as ultrahigh vacuum, scanning tunneling microscopy, diffraction of electrons, atoms, and X-rays.

Study materials

Literature

  • K. Oura, V.G. Lifshits, A.A. Saranin, A.V. Zotov and M. Katayama,‘Surface Science: An Introduction’ , Springer Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg, 2003. ISBN: 3-540-00545-5.

Other

  • Recent research literature for the student presentations will be made available during the course

Objectives

A basic knowledge of Surface and Interface physics and chemistry, typical experimental techniques in titese fields.

Teaching methods

  • Lecture
  • Presentation/symposium
  • Self-study

(1) The lectures ('Hoorcollege') are meant to highlight the parts of the textbook that are considered extra important and/or require additional background information. After the homework on a particular chapter has been collected (see next point), the proper solutions are discussed during the lecture and provided via BlackBoard. We also devote part of the lecture time to presentations by the students about research articles from the literature. These presentations are graded and thus contribute to the final grade that each student will get.

(2) The problem-solving classes ('Werkcollege') are dedicated to solving the problems that are given at the end of each chapter in the textbook and that serve as homework. Note, that at least 10 out of 13 of these homework assignments need to be handed in and need to be graded with a 6 or higher, in order to pass the bar for this course. Also note, that the problem solving classes don't provide enough time to finish the homework.

(3) A significant amount of self-study is required to follow the course successfully. Time is necessary for reading the chapters and research papers, for solving the homework problems and for preparing for the presentation of a research paper.

Learning activities

Activity

Number of hours

Hoorcollege

28

Werkcollege

8

Zelfstudie

132

Attendance

The programme does not have requirements concerning attendance (OER-B).


Additional requirements for this course:

Additional requirements for this course:

For this course a minimum attendance of 22 out of the 28 lecture hours is required. If a course participant doesn't reach this attendance, his/her case will be judged and the possibility of a compensating additional assignment can be considered (written report about a specific theme within the field of surface and interface science).

Assessment

Item and weight Details

Final grade

For this course, there is not final exam. The grade is established as follows:

- 2/3 of the grade is composed of the average of the 10 best solution sets of the problems at the end of the chapters that are treated in the course (chapter 2 to 14).

- 1/3 of the grade is composed of the (average of the) grade for the presentation(s) by the student of a research paper.

- a prerequisite is that the student attends at least 22 of the 28 lecture hours. If he/she attends a smaller number, in some cases a solution can be improvised with a special, compensating assignment.

Inspection of assessed work

The solutions are graded and the grades are made available to the students during the lectures. If students afterwards wish to inspect their work and the corresponding grades, they can ask so during class (typically during the breaks). If they have specific questions about the problems and solutions, there is ample opportunity to ask questions, not only during problem-solving classes but also during the regular classes.

Assignments

Solutions to Problems

  • - Solutions to the problems at the end of each chapter that is treated in the course have to be handed in. Students can work together on these problems and they can use the problem-solving classes ('Werkcollege') to ask for assistance with their solutions. Even when students collaborate, they each have to hand in their own written record of the solutions.

    - The solutions are graded and the grades are made available to the students during the lectures. If students afterwards wish to inspect their work and the corresponding grades, they can ask so during class (typically during the breaks). If they have specific questions about the problems and solutions, there is ample opportunity to ask questions, not only during problem-solving classes but also during the regular classes.

    - At least 10 out of 13 solution sets (chapters) need to be handed in. The average of the best 10 grades count as the grade for the homework. This average grade forms 2/3 of the final grade for the course.

Presentations

  • Each participant has to give at least one presentation about a research paper. The paper is provided by the teacher. At the end of the presentation, the other students can ask questions about the presented research. The grade for the presentation(s) counts for 1/3 of the final grade for the course.

Onderstaande opdrachten komen aan bod in deze cursus:

  •    Naam opdracht 1 : beschrijving 2
  •    Naam opdracht 2 : beschrijving 1
  •    ....

Fraud and plagiarism

Dit vak hanteert de algemene ‘Fraude- en plagiaatregeling’ van de UvA. Onder plagiaat of fraude wordt verstaan het overschrijven van het werk van een medestudent dan wel het kopiëren van wetenschappelijke bronnen (uit bijvoorbeeld boeken en tijdschriften en van het Internet) zonder daarbij de bron te vermelden. Uiteraard is plagiaat verboden. Hier wordt nauwkeurig op gecontroleerd en streng tegen opgetreden. Bij verdenking van plagiaat wordt de examencommissie van de opleiding ingeschakeld. Wanneer de examencommissie overtuigd is dat er plagiaat gepleegd is dan kan dit maximaal leiden tot een uitsluiting van al het onderwijs van de opleiding voor een heel kalenderjaar. Zie voor meer informatie over het fraude- en plagiaatreglement van de Universiteit van Amsterdam.www.uva.nl/plagiaat

Course structure

Weeknummer Onderwerpen Studiestof
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Additional information

Course planning

A detailed course planning, including the dates on which homework is to be handed in, is made available at the beginning of the course, both in class and on BlackBoard.

Background knowledge

This course will be given on the MSc level and it requires basic background knowledge in condensed matter physics and some statistical mechanics.

Format

This is an interactive course that demands significant interaction and participation by the students. Only the first lecture will be given in a "classical" form, providing an appetizing overview of the field of Surface Science. The other lectures go in more depth and are each devoted to a separate subject, typically connected to one of the chapters of the textbook (see below) that is used in this course. Most of the 2-hour lectures will contain the following three components.

  1. SUBJECT. The first part will be used to review and discuss the subject of that lecture, with special emphasis to difficulties and questions that have come up in the preparation for that subject. EVERYONE IS EXPECTED TO HAVE STUDIED THE SUBJECT by carefully reading the chapter for that lecture.
  2. HOMEWORK. The second part will be used to go through the solutions to the set of Problems at the end of each chapter. We expect EVERYONE TO HAND IN THEIR SOLUTIONS at the beginning of each lecture. Your grade will be partly based on this homework.
  3. PRESENTATIONS. The third part is for a PRESENTATION BY ONE OF THE PARTICIPANTS of a paper from the recent scientific literature, which is associated with the subject of that lecture. Typically the presentation will be supported by PowerPoint slides. Each participant will give at least one such presentation during the course. The presentation forms the basis of the second component of the grade for this course.

The final lecture will take the form of an excursion to surface-science experiments at UvA, VU and ARCNL.

Contact information

Coordinator

  • prof. dr. J.W.M. Frenken

MSc. G. Yetik: g.yetik@arcnl.nl