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Chapter One
Introduction
M. M. El Gomati and M. Prutton
The region near to the surface of a solid material can play important-roles
in the properties of that solid. Should an atom or molecule arrive at
such a surface, be it in vacuo, in air, in a liquid or in contact with the
surface of a different material, then the crystallographic structure, the
atomic type, the electronic structure, the vibrations of surface atoms and
the bonding forces between the arrival and the surface may all affect
what happens next. Thus, for example, the arrival may adhere to the
solid surface or be scattered off of it, or the arrival may react with
the surface forming a new compound locally. Should the temperature,
the structure and the binding energies of the atoms in the surface have
appropriate values then the arrival may diffuse into the solid or even
cause atoms in the solid to diffuse out to the surface. For these reasons
solid surfaces are important in many processes in a wide variety of
different parts of science, including biology, chemistry, materials science
and physics. Further, they are important in many areas of technolog ... read full excerpt from Scanning Auger Electron Microscopy ebook
