The progress of materials science depends on the development of novel materials and the development of novel experimental techniques. The research on graphite intercalation compounds combines both aspects: new compounds with strikingly new and anisotropic properties have been synthesized and analyzed during the past couple of years by means of state-of-the-art experimental methods. At the same time, the preparation of the compounds already known has improved con- siderably, giving increased reliability and reproducibility of the experimental results. The high quality experimental data now...

The research on graphite intercalation compounds often acts as a forerunner for research in other sciences. For instance, the concept of staging, which is fundamental to graphite intercalation compounds, is also relevant to surface science in connection with adsorbates on metal surfaces and to high-temperature superconducting oxide layer materials. Phonon-folding and mode-splitting effects are not only basic to graphite intercalation compounds but also to polytypical systems such as supercon- ductors, superlattices, and metal and semiconductor superlattices. Charge transfer effects playa...