Topics for bachelor's thesis in Experimental Physics

Within the scope of an experimental Surface Science Bachelor thesis you will be working on a timely research project with the scientific equipment available in our labs (e.g. Scanning tunneling microscopy, angle-resolved photoemission, X-ray photoemission, Infrared spectroscopy, etc.). With support of your supervisor you will learn to handle the complex ultrahigh-vacuum machines, attain understanding of the analysis methods applied in your project, and work on a scientific problem (incl. literature search and reporting). The duration of the practical work is approx. 3-4 weeks.

The scientific problem can be related to one the following topics:

• Structure determination of ultrathin oxide films with scanning tunneling microscopy
• Determination of the electronic and geometric structure of single molecules and molecular monolayers on surfaces with scanning tunneling microscopy
• Determination of the electronic structure and charge transfer into molecules on surfaces with angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy
• Adsorption and reaction of molecules at surfaces (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, thermal desorption, infrared spectroscopy)
• Preparation and characterization of model catalysts based on ultrathin oxide films
• Determination of the electrochemical stability and reactivity of model catalysts (cyclic voltammetry in combination with scanning tunneling microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy)

Contact: martin.sterrer(at)uni-graz.at; michael.ramsey(at)uni-graz.at; svetlozar.surnev(at)uni-graz.at; georg.koller(at)uni-graz.at