Transition from reciprocal-space to real-space surface science—advent of the scanning tunneling microscope

Abstract

The emergence of surface science as an identifiable field of research depended to a large measure on structural determinations, which were dominated in the early days by diffraction methods. The scanning tunneling microscope enabled a transition to real-space imaging, making surface science visual and thus much more accessible. The evolution of surface structural determination is roughly traced from its inception to the present, where both diffraction and scanning tunneling microscopy have become commodities: Must haves for the serious surface scientist.