Microcrystals large enough to be seen in an electron microscope have long been objects of intense scientific and technological interest. Recently, it has become possible to study properties of even smaller units of matter, clusters, thus allowing the last gap betweeen molecules and crystals to be bridged. This book presents the experimental and theoretical techniques needed to study this new state of condensed matter. The material is presented so as to be understandable to an audience with varied backgrounds and interests. At the beginning of each part basic concepts are quickly reviewed for...

In recent years substantial progress has been made in the detection of surface phonons owing to considerable improvements in inelastic rare gas scattering tech niques and electron energy loss spectroscopy. With these methods it has become possible to measure surface vibrations in a wide energy range for all wave vectors in the two-dimensional Brillouin zone and thus to deduce the complete surface phonon dispersion curves. Inelastic atomic beam scattering and electron energy loss spectroscopy have started to play a role in the study of surface phonons similar to the one played by inelastic...

"Exotic Atoms in Condensed Matter" reviews the state of the art in this field, from meson factories to the basic interactions of muons in condensed matter. The application of muon- and pion-based analysis of solid state structural, magnetic and superconducting properties is discussed. The spectroscopic features of exotic atoms are reviewed together with their application to chemical analysis. Also, muon-catalyzed fusion is presented.

In recent decades surface science has experienced a large growth in connection with the development of various experimental techniques which are able to characterize solid surfaces through the observation of the scattering of ions, electrons, photons or atoms. These methods of investigation, known under different labels such as LEED, AES, XPS, UPS, etc. have been extensively applied in describing the structure, morphology, and chemical and physical properties of crystal surfaces and interfaces of a large variety of materials of interest in solid-state physics, electronics, metallurgy,...

Experimental advances in helium atom scattering spectroscopy over the last forty years have allowed the measurement of surface phonon dispersion curves of more than 200 different crystal surfaces and overlayers of insulators, semiconductors and metals.