Recent Advances in Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy of Surface and Interface Vibrations of Layered Materials

In recent years, electron energy loss spectroscopy has been successfully applied to the study of vibrational properties of surfaces and interfaces of materials having a layered structure. At the same time the theory of the long-wavelength electromagnetic properties of surfaces and interfaces and of the scattering processes of electrons has also developed to the point where detailed quantitative comparison between experimental and theoretical vibrational spectra can now be made. The paper will review recent works concerned with surface and interface phonons of isotropic and anisotropic layered materials including superlattices, as seen by high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy.