Surfaces and Thin Films of sp-bonded Metals

9510132 Plummer本研究计划旨在调查简单金属的表面、界面和薄膜的物理和化学性质，目的是使用这些模型系统来阐明基本概念。许多令人着迷的物理现象有待研究，例如钾表面的钉扎电荷密度波，锂表面的预马氏体表面转变，表面重建，如铍表面的缺失行重构，薄膜中的振荡结构转变，以及“设计”的多层膜中的集体激发。这些研究的影响将是开发管理表面和界面行为的新概念。材料的物理和化学性质是多种多样的，极其复杂，受数十亿电子与数十亿离子相互作用的细节所支配。另一方面，正是这种复杂性导致了诸如集成电路(计算机)、磁记录、催化活性等材料在我们的日常生活中的适用性，以及重量轻但强度高的材料，从而可以制备出具有截然不同或更好的物理或化学性质的新材料。这项研究计划使用简单的金属(例如锂、钠、铍)作为工具，以加深对表面和界面的物理和化学性质的基本了解。在上述大多数应用中，决定行为的是表面或界面的特性。***

9510132 Plummer This research program is aimed at an investigation of the physical and chemical properties of surfaces, interfaces, and thin films of simple metals, with the objective of using these model systems to elucidate fundamental concepts. A wealth of fascinating physical phenomena awaits investigation, such as pinned charge density waves at the surface of potassium, pre-martensitic surface transitions on lithium, surface reconstructions such as the missing row reconstruction on a beryllium surface, oscillatory structural transformations in thin films, and collective excitations in "designed" multilayers. The impact of these studies will be the development of new concepts that govern the behavior of a surface and an interface. %%% The physical and chemical properties of materials are varied and extremely complex, governed by the details of the interactions of billions and billions of electrons with billions of ions. On the other hand, it is this complexity that leads to applicability of materials in our daily lives, such as integrated circuits (computers), magnetic recording, catalytic activity, and light weight but strong materials, so that new material, with quite different or better physical or chemical properties can be prepared. This research program uses the simple metals (e.g., lithium, sodium, beryllium) as the vehicle for developing a fundamental understanding of the physical and chemical properties of surfaces and interfaces. It is the characteristics of the surface or interface that dictates the behavior in most of the applications above. ***