Principles of Surface Physics , F. Bechstedt Springer-Verlag, New York, 2003. $89.95 (342 pp.). ISBN 3-540-00635-4
Surface science is one of the frontiers of the physical sciences. It had its experimental origins in the 1950s and 1960s in the development of field ion microscopy and low-energy electron diffraction, both of which were in need of ultrahigh-vacuum conditions. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the focus in surface science was on semiconductors, thanks to the rise of transistor-based devices. Those devices represented the first size-reduction technology, in which the device performance (speed, in the case of transistor-based devices) improved with the reduction in size. Other size-reduction technologies followed, including microelectronic circuitry and the magnetic disc drive. The pursuit of these technologies has made understanding atomic and electronic surface structure at the individual-atom level an imperative and demanded device fabrication with ever-improving spatial definition. The continuing importance of size reduction has led to the emerging research efforts in nanosciences and nanotechnology.
Another major focus of surface science has been surface chemistry. Studying the adsorption and ordering of atoms and molecules at surfaces, and determining their surface structure and bonding, have allowed exploration of the nature of the surface chemical bond. Improved knowledge of bond activation on transition-metal surfaces has led to studies of elementary reaction steps in heterogeneous catalysis. Chemical vapor deposition, etching, and epitaxial growth have been explored on the atomic scale. The industrial impact of surface chemistry research is exemplified by the development of the catalytic converter, used on automobiles since the 1970s, and the appearance of ubiquitous semiconductor devices based on heteroepitaxy.
Because most real-world applications of surfaces occur at high ambient pressure or at solid–liquid interfaces, new optical techniques and atomic probes have been developed over the past 10 years that permit one to study these surfaces on the atomic scale where information had not previously been available. As a result, electrochemistry and the orientation of molecules adsorbed at electrode surfaces could be investigated on the molecular level as the external potential varies. Polymer and biopolymer surfaces have been studied, and changes of their surface structure and surface composition have been monitored as the interface shifts from air (hydrophobic) to water (hydrophilic). Since the human body can be thought of as a biopolymer–water interface with a monolayer of adsorbed protein, surface science now has the instrumentation available to explore molecular surface biology.
Principles of Surface Physics by Friedhelm Bechstedt focuses on formalistic treatment of surfaces and avoids dealing with experimental information accumulated over the past 40 years. It competently reviews the formulation of symmetry, surface thermodynamics, and elementary electron excitations. Surface reconstruction is treated only in the framework of semiconductor surfaces. The book concentrates on the properties of the perfect surface; surface defects are considered in the last chapter as an afterthought.
The lack of discussion about experimental developments and insights is a major deficiency of the book. The exciting new concepts of surface science—including adsorbate-induced restructuring; chemical bond breaking at surface defects and at rough, open surfaces; surface segregation in multicomponent systems; unique electronic and atomic structures of nanoparticles; the mobility of surface atoms; and molecules on and under the surface—are not mentioned. The impression Bechstedt conveys of the perfect surface is outdated. Thus I believe the intended readers of Principles of Surface Physics, solid-state physicists at the undergraduate or graduate level, are not getting a real picture of the richness, breadth, and depth of surface science.
Other books in the field—for example, John Blakely’s Introduction to the Properties of Crystal Surfaces (Pergamon Press, 1973); the series Progress in Surface Science (Elsevier); the series Chemistry and Physics of Solid Surfaces (Springer-Verlag), edited by Ralf Vanselow and S. Y. Tong; and the Springer Series in Surface Sciences—provide a great deal of information about modern surface science. And many other books cover various aspects of this multidisciplinary field, which ranges from the physics of semiconductor nanoparticles, to the selectivity of catalysts, to proteins monolayers at the atomic scale. Readers looking to learn about the current excitement in surface science would be better served by such other sources.
