Monolayer
The term monolayer (engl .: monolayer ) or monolayer designated depending on the field a layer of atoms , molecules or cells on a surface, wherein the layer height is only an atom, a molecule or cell. There are therefore no identical atoms or molecules on top of one another in the monolayer.
The term can also be understood as a unit of measurement used for the deposition or ablation on crystalline surfaces. A monolayer corresponds to the complete, values less than one, of a partial coverage of a substrate with the deposited or ablated type of atom, molecule or cell.
Physical experiments to determine the properties of the surface of solids require particularly pure conditions; even a monolayer of foreign atoms can lead to incorrect results. In practice, the term mono time has become established, defined as the period of time in which a previously pure solid surface is covered with a monolayer due to residual gas deposition.
literature
- Andrew Zangwill: Physics at surfaces , Cambridge University Press 1988, ISBN 0-521-34752-1