ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS TECHNIQUES FOR FUNCTIONAL SURFACES AND NANOSTRUCTURES

The aim of course is to give a basic description of five techniques of analysis of the surfaces, together with some applications: Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS), Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS), Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) alias Electron Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis (ESCA), Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES). Physical and chemical analysis of surfaces is fundamental for understanding how materials interact with the surrounding. Surface analytical techniques provide the tools to explore the surface and subsurface physics and chemistry of solid materials. The main goal of the course is to get the students to rightly choose a surface characterization technique depending on the scientific questions they must give answer.
The specific objective of the second part of the course is the correct application of the techniques presented in the first part to a specific field in nanotechnology, i.e. the energy conversion. The students are supposed to be able to correlate the structural, morphological and compositional properties to the functional features of the different nanostructures.

Basic knowledge of Physics, Chemistry, Error Theory

The students will learn the basic principles of some surface analysis techniques, the physical and chemical information that these techniques can give, the instrumentation needed. The course will be illustrated by many examples of application of these analysis techniques to surfaces of different solid materials: glasses, metals, ceramics, nanostructured materials, etc.
The second part of the course aims at presenting the potential of different nanomaterials in the specific field of energy harvesting and conversion. Different kinds of nanomaterials are considered, related to the different processes to be optimized, i.e. light absorption, exciton creation/dissociation, charge transport and collection. Examples include quantum dots, semiconducting nanowires, plasmonic systems and hierarchical structures.
Ample examples of application of the concepts illustrated in the first part of the course will be given in the second part.

All needed material will be provided in class.

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