Programme

Condensed matter: crystalline and amorph materials. Insulators, conductors, semiconductors. Drude-Lorentz model for the optical response of materials.

Microscopy: fundamental concepts, diffraction limit, optical and electronic microscopy techniques.

Spectroscopy: accessible information at the different energy scales. Optical and infrared spectroscopy, X-ray spectroscopy.

Detectors: general concepts, efficiency, response in time, integration within complete measurement systems.

Core Documentation

Material will be made available by the teachers.

Attendance

Attendance of the practical sessions is mandatory, strongly recommended otherwise.

Type of evaluation

The exam will evaluate the presentation of one of the experiments and the general knowledge of the subjects covered in the programme.

Programme

In this course we shall introduce two experimental techniques used to characterize the surface properties of condensed matter: x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). First, we shall provide a theoretical background of the two techniques. The frontal lectures have the following subjects: optical versus scanning probe microscopy; STM; contact AFM; non-contact AFM; secondary SPM techniques; resolution and artifacts; SPM image analysis; surface and vacuum; fundamental of XPS; three-step model; x-ray sources; electron analyzers; electron detection; XPS data acquisition and analysis. Subsequently, the experimental activity will be carried on using tools available at the Laboratory for Physics and Technology of Semiconductors.

Core Documentation

- Notes provided by the teacher based on the slides presented during the lectures
- Fundamentals of probe scanning microscopy, V. L. Mironov, NT-MDT

Type of delivery of the course

Theory lectrures in classroom and hands on training in laboratory

Attendance

mandatory

Type of evaluation

final oral examination and evaluation of the lab book