Held at the ESRF on 30 September/1st October the workshop was in particular aimed at assessing the strength and interest of the surface and interface user community, and the trends and developments in this field of research.

A strong participation at the workshop (more than 80 participants from 15 different nations) demonstrated that surface and interface science is fruitful, lively and still enjoying a dynamic development.

From the presentations, several trends and important developments in surface and interface research could be identified.

  • Surface crystallography employing surface X-ray diffraction (SXRD) has reached a state of maturity. Some problems and requirements compare to protein crystallography: large unit cells are analysed and solved, the measurements are routine, but speed and reliable sample preparation and quick exchange are important issues.
  • “Real” surfaces are coming more and more into the focus of interest.
  • With the advent of 3rd generation synchrotron sources the X-ray standing wave (XSW) technique has experienced a tremendous increase in analytical power and in its range of applications.

The scientific programme of the meeting ended with a lively discussion session, centred on the three scientific issues (1) SXRD, (2) XSW and (3) Hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HAXPES).

The discussion on item one was lead by Salvador Ferrer (LLS Barcelona). It was pointed out that several surface X-ray diffraction stations will be available at national synchrotron sources. However, many of these stations will not be available for several years, increasing in the meantime the need for such facilities at the ESRF.

The discussion on item two was lead by Michael Bedzyk (Northwestern University). It was largely acknowledged that the XSW is seeing a very dynamic development and has expanded in many highly-interesting areas. The technique needs a dedicated station with some special requirements (such as a secondary monochromator), because it combines diffraction and spectroscopy. This station can conveniently be shared with other techniques (naturally with diffraction or spectroscopic techniques).

The discussion on HAXPES was lead by Shigemasa Suga (University Osaka). The importance of HAXPES for obtaining bulk valence band information with high resolution ( 10 meV) or investigating buried interfaces (> 10 nm) with core level spectroscopy was underlined. It was remarked that HAXPES is also important in combination with XSW, further widening the range of applications of this technique. A general discussion, led by Friso van der Veen (SLS Villigen) followed and focused on the future of Surface and Interface science at the two beamlines ID03 and ID32. The conclusion of the discussion and thus the workshop was that ID03 shall remain a beamline catering for the SXRD community since the number of available SXRD stations has decreased (Lure and Daresbury have stopped their activities). There was general agreement that the catalysis research on solid/highpressure-gas interfaces at ID03 is of major importance and an outstanding activity at the ESRF.

Several concrete improvements were suggested for the necessary refurbishment of the beamline. It was furthermore concluded that ID32 should continue to concentrate on XSW experiments, using techniques such as photoelectron and fluorescence spectroscopy, and on SXRD experiments with emphasis on electrochemistry and surface studies using UHV baby chambers. It was acknowledged that the refurbishment of ID32, carried out along the lines of recommendations of the beamline review committee from 2002, has dramatically increased the attractiveness of the beamline and should be continued until completed.

The meeting finished on Friday evening with the presentation of the best-poster-award by Ian Robinson, which went to Ioana Popa, postdoc at ID03, for her poster “Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in Ni films on Pt(001)”, and with a final buffet on the mezzanine.