Vibrational spectroscopy of thin films and nanostructures by inelastic nuclear resonant scattering

The technique of inelastic nuclear resonant scattering is applied to measure the phonon density of states of thin films and nanostructured materials. Interference effects in grazing incidence geometry significantly enhance the inelastic signal from low-dimensional systems. Combined with the outstanding brilliance of modern synchrotron radiation sources this allows one to determine vibrational properties with monolayer sensitivity. An introduction into the basic principles of the method is given, and several experimental examples are discussed. (Materials noted: Fe, W, Pd; substrate: glass ceramics ZERODUR.)