Brilliance of X-rays

Many important processes and reactions occur at the surfaces of materials and researchers use the SRS to study many different types of surface phenomena. Catalytic converters work because the special surface of the material inside the converter 'cleans up' the exhaust fumes, turning toxic carbon monoxide and oxides of nitrogen into harmless, naturally occurring water, nitrogen and carbon dioxide.

The surface structure of a single crystal of silicon.

Inside every television set, microwave oven and radar set is a device called a thermionic cathode. This gives off a beam of electrons which can be focused or steered helping to give, for example, the picture on a TV screen.

Most cathodes are made from tungsten, coated in barium and oxygen, and the efficiency of their electron emission is highly dependent on the barium and oxygen coating. Experiments at the SRS have shown that the best arrangement is when barium atoms are on top of oxygen atoms, which themselves are in hollows on the tungsten surface. These results help explain why some cathodes work better than others and point the way toward making better devices in the future.