Solid Surfaces, Interfaces and Thin Films

This book emphasises both experimental and theoretical aspects of surface, interface and thin-film physics. As in previous editions the preparation of surfaces and thin films, their atomic and morphological structure, their vibronic and electronic properties as well as fundamentals of adsorption are treated. Because of their importance in modern information technology and nanostructure research, particular emphasis is paid to electronic surface and interface states, semiconductor space charge layers and heterostructures. A special chapter of the book is devoted to collective phenomena at interfaces and in thin films such as superconductivity and magnetism. The latter topic includes the meanwhile important issues giant magnetoresistance and spin-transfer torque mechanism, both effects being of high interest in information technology. In this new edition, for the first time, the effect of spin-orbit coupling on surface states is treated. In this context the class of the recently detected topological insulators, materials of significant importance for spin electronics, are discussed. Particular emphasis, hereby, is laid on the new type of topologically protected surface states with well-defined spin orientation. Furthermore, some important well established experimental techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD) and reflection anisotropy spectroscopy (RAS), which were missing so far in earlier editions, were added in this new 6^th edition of the book.

Hans Luth was born in Aachen, Germany, in 1940. He received the diploma in physics in 1965 and the doctoral degree (PhD) in physics in 1968, both from the Aachen University of Technology (RWTH). Between 1974 and 1986 he held several guest scientist and visiting professor positions at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Centre (USA), the Universities of Paris (F), Aix-Marseille (F) and Modena (I). Since 1980 he has been professor for physics and since 2000 simultaneously professor for electrical engineering at the RWTH Aachen. Additionally, in 1988 he became the director of the Institute of Bio- and Nanosystems at the Research Centre Julich, Germany. In 2006 and 2007 he was Research Director for Key Technologies at the Research Centre Julich. For his scientific work and for his globally used text books he was awarded the Doctor Honoris Causa by the Universite de Haute-Alsace, Mulhouse-Colmar (F). His research interests center around semiconductor interface physics and quantum electronics.