ABSTRACT
Surface science is a discipline that is devoted to the investigation of two-dimensional structures that serve as the interface between physical phases. Surface science involves experimental and theoretical study of the physics, chemistry, and biology of surfaces. The surface of a material is the outermost boundary of any object or substance. The etymology of the word surface (from Old French sur, “above” + face, from the Latin facia, “appearance, form, fi gure”) indicates as much. Irving Langmuir was one of the founders of the discipline of surface science. The advent of surface analysis techniques such as AFM, STM, XPS, Auger electron spectroscopy, LEED, EELS, and SIMS helped establish this fi eld as one of great importance to all of science and technology. Surfaces perform numerous vital functions. They keep things in; they keep things out; or they allow the fl ow
of material and energy across an interfacial structure. Surfaces are also capable of initiating or terminating chemical reactions, as in the case of catalysts.
