Surface reactions are important to chemical technologies such as heterogeneous catalysis, thin film growth, and semiconductor device fabrication. In one area of research we use Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to study molecules on the surfaces metal single crystals. The high resolution of FTIR allows us to observe subtle changes in band shape and frequency as a function of temperature and coverage, which provides new insights into the way molecules interact with metal surfaces and with each other. High resolution also allows small isotopic shifts such as associated with 13C, 15N, and 18O substitution to be measured, which in turn allows novel surface intermediates to be unambiguously identified. For example, we recently identified CNH2 as an intermediate formed on the Pt(111) surface during the reactions of several different CN containing molecules.

A second area of interest is the surface structure and chemistry of the boron-rich solids, which include metallic borides such as TiB2 and LaB6 as well as semiconductors such as boron carbide and YB66. These materials possess structures involving networks of covalently bonded boron. The unique structures confer unique properties on these materials that make them useful in a variety of applications. We study these materials with techniques such as X- ray photoelectron spectroscopy, low energy electron diffraction and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). We have used STM to observe the atomic structure of the LaB6(100) surface and more recently to observe structural details of the YB66(100) surface.