Diffraction from physisorbed layers

Diffraction techniques used to study the structures of atoms and molecules physically adsorbed onto a variety of solid surfaces are reviewed. This is part of an important topic that includes the thermodynamics, dynamics and simulations/calculations of physisorption. We identify that there has been an interesting recent expansion in the variety of surfaces and molecular adsorbates that have been studied, extending previous mono-component studies to studies of binary mixtures with particular focus on novel intermolecular interactions. Technically, improvements in access to large centralised facilities with appropriate diffraction instrumentation have the potential to allow previously unfeasible measurements to be made and the beginnings of work in this area is summarised. There have also been significant advances in related techniques, such as scanning tunnelling microscopy and atomic force microscopy, that provide important and complementary structural information.