Overview
This area of research involves problems in interfacial electrochemistry. These problems involve the deposition of atoms, ions, or molecules onto a surface from solution. Unlike ultra-high vacuum deposition methods like molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), the electrochemical environment allows direct control over the chemical potentials of the deposited species. In vacuum techniques, only the fluxes or coverages of the deposited species may be controlled. (Vapor deposition is an exception. There, the chemical potential can be indirectly controlled by the gas pressure.)
Electroplating (bulk electrodeposition) is the most common example of electrochemical deposition. Its uses range from making cheap electroplated jewelry to depositing the Cu interconnects in the latest generation of microprocessors. The research presented here involves submonolayer deposition which is unique to electrochemical deposition. In submonolayer deposition, a single layer of atoms, ions, or molecules is deposited. In the electrochemistry community, this is often called under potential deposition (UPD) because the deposition occurs at potentials different from where bulk deposition occurs.
We apply various tools from equilibrium and dynamic statistical mechanics to simulate and understand the phase transitions, deposition, ordering, and disordering processes of these adlayers. See the page on Algorithms for a discussion of dynamic simulation methods.
Additional Information
To the right is a list of projects in this area. The linked pages contain further information about each project, including more graphics, animations, and links to online copies of research papers discussing each topic. The following is a list of papers containing general information in this field.
List of Electrochemistry Publications Available Online
