Atomic interface structure-property investigations

Our current understanding of the relationship between interfacial structure and the resulting properties remains very rudimentary. This is a concern f or many fields and applications, including metal/semiconductor contacts, in sulator/semiconductor field effect junctions, magnetic multilayers, ferroel ectric thin films, and semiconductor heterostructures. The situation is sli ghtly improved in the case of epitaxial growth where a deposited layer foll ows the structure of the underlying substrate. However, even with these sys tems the interfacial properties are difficult to predict accurately, even w hen impurities and defects can be ignored. This paper highlights a number o f recent examples of interface structure-property investigations that have attempted to understand how the interface formation determines the relevant film or interface property.