Stoev Krassimir, Sakurai Kenji
Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, 286 Plant Road, Chalk River, Ontario, K0J1J0, Canada.
National Institute for Materials Science, 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0047, Japan.
Anal Sci. 2020 Aug 10;36(8):901-922. doi: 10.2116/analsci.19R010. Epub 2020 Mar 6.
In the early 1960s, scientists achieved the breakthroughs in the fields of solid surfaces and artificial layered structures. The advancement of surface science has been supported by the advent of ultra-high vacuum technologies, newly discovered and established scanning probe microscopy with atomic resolution, as well as some other advanced surface-sensitive spectroscopy and microscopy. On the other hand, it has been well recognized that a number of functions are related to the structures of the interfaces, which are the thin planes connecting different materials, most likely by layering thin films. Despite the scientific significance, so far, research on such buried layers and interfaces has been limited, because the probing depth of almost all existing sophisticated analytical methods is limited to the top surface. The present article describes the recent progress in the nanometer scale analysis of buried layers and interfaces, particularly by using X-rays and neutrons. The methods are essentially promising to non-destructively probe such buried structures in thin films. The latest scientific research has been reviewed, and includes applications to bio-chemical, organic, electronic, magnetic, spintronic, self-organizing and complicated systems as well as buried liquid-liquid and solid-liquid interfaces. Some emerging analytical techniques and instruments, which provide new attractive features such as imaging and real time analysis, are also discussed.
20世纪60年代初，科学家们在固体表面和人工层状结构领域取得了突破。超高真空技术的出现、新发现并确立的具有原子分辨率的扫描探针显微镜以及其他一些先进的表面敏感光谱学和显微镜技术，推动了表面科学的发展。另一方面，人们已经充分认识到，许多功能与界面结构有关，界面是连接不同材料的薄层，很可能是通过薄膜分层实现的。尽管具有科学意义，但迄今为止，对这种埋藏层和界面的研究一直很有限，因为几乎所有现有精密分析方法的探测深度都仅限于表面。本文介绍了埋藏层和界面纳米尺度分析的最新进展，特别是利用X射线和中子的分析进展。这些方法对于无损探测薄膜中的此类埋藏结构具有重要前景。本文对最新的科学研究进行了综述，包括在生物化学、有机、电子、磁性、自旋电子学、自组织和复杂系统以及埋藏的液-液和固-液界面中的应用。还讨论了一些新兴的分析技术和仪器，它们具有成像和实时分析等新的吸引人的特点。
