Crystallography technique

Citation

(1999), "Crystallography technique", Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, Vol. 46 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/acmm.1999.12846aab.005

Crystallography technique

Crystallography technique

Keywords Surface films,Surface spectroscopy, University of Houston

A dynamic crystallography technique has been developed by Professor Wayne Rabalais and two graduate students at the University of Houston, Texas, for monitoring surface structure and chemical reactions on surfaces. Called scattering and recoiling imaging spectrometry (SARIS), the method is said to offer potential for studying catalysis, semiconductor surfaces, and corrosion.

The technology involves capturing images of ions in flight. It includes a large area, position-sensitive microchannel plate detector, which is gated so that it can accept data only in small time windows, as short as 10ns. Images showing spatial distribution of scattered particles are collected digitally, then compared. This allows determination of where a molecule reacts on a surface, and how the atomic structure changes as a result of the chemical reaction.

According to Professor Rabalais: "We will be better able to manipulate and improve catalytic reactions, and we can look at what is happening during the deposition process used in the epitaxial growth of thin films. This will enable us to understand the process better, and create a sharper interface between the surface on which the film is grown, and the film itself".