A surface chemistry laboratory was established in the Department of chemistry. Currently, there arethree custom-designed ultra-high vacuum (UHV) systems equipped with a relatively wde range of sophisticated surface techniques, such as, thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS), low energy electron diffraction(LEED), high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS), ultra-violet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), excimer UVlaser and 1000W 1000W lamp.A lamp.A UHV STM with variable temperature will be added soon, providing us with thecapability of resolving and manipulating the atomic arrangements on surfaces.The main objectives of the research programme are: (i) to understand the fundamental chemical and physical processes involved in gas-surface interactions; (ii) to provide the basic knowledge for developing advanced industrial technologies as well as synthesizing novel materials; and (iii) to train research scientists for localR&D industries. Our research work is focused on the studies of surface chemistry of excited adsorbates on metalsand semiconductors, and the interaetions of reactive atomic beams with surfaces.One aspect of our future development in the next five years is to establish an applied research programme inthe areas of thin films growth and in-situ studies of heterogeneous catalytic reactions under industrial conditions. The other is to probe the surface processes in real time frame by coupling the surface techniques with femto-second laser spectroscopies and to explore the surface chemistry and physics of size-selected metal clusters,initiating the concept of molccular surface chemistry.
