Introductory Remarks

Abstract

During the summer of 1962 ten surface chemists and physicists visited Syracuse with the intent of defining a “metal surface” and establishing a method of its characterization. The only agreement that could be achieved during the ensuing three days was on the time to adjoin the meeting. During the following ten years and a few hundred thousand research papers later, agreement on this matter has been achieved and this was probably due to the fact that a standard state was obtained. That is, a pure, uncontaminated, metal-vacuum interface was established and characterized by the very important tools of low energy electron diffraction (LEED), field ion microscopy (FIM) and the like. Once this point was established, adsorbed film kinetics and the surface chemistry of metallic systems could be placed on a more quantitative and orderly basis. The results of these efforts were then applied to metallic adhesion, friction, wear and lubrication which permitted a more quantitative understanding of these to be established.