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Topic · Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Surface and Thin Film Phenomena

Surface and Thin Film Phenomena is a research topic within Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics. Science Explorer counts 36k research works in it since 1950. 9.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the influence of quantum size effects on the electronic and superconducting properties of metallic nanostructures, particularly focusing on thin films, surface states, and atomic chains. The research delves into phenomena such as quantum well states, electron-phonon interactions, and the manifestation of superconductivity at the quantum limit.

  • Superconductivity
  • Quantum Size Effects
  • Thin Films
  • Surface States
  • Electronic Structure
  • Metallic Nanostructures
  • Atomic Chains
  • Quantum Well States
  • Electron-Phonon Interaction
  • Scanning Tunneling Microscopy
Research works
36k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
3.6k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
-23%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
21% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Surface and Thin Film Phenomena

Which countries lead Surface and Thin Film Phenomena research?

By volume, the United States and China publish the most (244 and 243 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 244 works
  2. 2 China 243 works
  3. 3 Japan 137 works
  4. 4 Germany 137 works
  5. 5 Russia 115 works
  6. 6 France 82 works
  7. 7 India 66 works
  8. 8 United Kingdom 49 works
  9. 9 Italy 39 works
  10. 10 Spain 34 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 21.3%China: 21.2%Japan: 12.0%Germany: 11.9%6 others listed: 33.7%21%largest
United States244 · 21.3%China243 · 21.2%Japan137 · 12.0%Germany137 · 11.9%6 others listed386 · 33.7%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Surface and Thin Film Phenomena research?

By volume in 2022-now, Russian Academy of Sciences publishes the most Surface and Thin Film Phenomena research, followed by Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Chinese Academy of Sciences.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 49 works
  2. 2 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 42 works
  3. 3 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 34 works
  4. 4 Helmholtz Association of German Research CentresGermany 16 works
  5. 5 Max Planck SocietyGermany 16 works
  6. 6 National Institute for Materials ScienceJapan 13 works
  7. 7 University of Science and Technology of ChinaChina 10 works
  8. 8 The University of TokyoJapan 9 works
  9. 9 The University of OsakaJapan 8 works
  10. 10 Lomonosov Moscow State UniversityRussia 8 works

Who are the leading researchers in Surface and Thin Film Phenomena?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Surface and Thin Film Phenomena include Zhong Lin Wang, John P. Perdew and Georg Kresse.

  1. 1 Zhong Lin Wang United States 491k citations
  2. 2 John P. Perdew United States 436k citations
  3. 3 Georg Kresse Austria 431k citations
  4. 4 Kostya S. Novoselov United Kingdom 331k citations
  5. 5 Andre K. Geim United Kingdom 315k citations
  6. 6 Kieron Burke United States 276k citations
  7. 7 George M. Whitesides United States 267k citations
  8. 8 Wei Huang China 267k citations
  9. 9 Gordon Brent Mills United States 265k citations
  10. 10 Yi Ping Cui United States 261k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Surface and Thin Film Phenomena?

The most cited paper in Surface and Thin Film Phenomena is "Optical Constants of the Noble Metals" (P. B. Johnson, R. W. Christy, 1972), with 20,103 citations. Next come "Density-functional approximation for the correlation energy of the inhomogeneous electron gas" (18,902) and "Atomic Force Microscope" (14,628).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Optical Constants of the Noble Metals P. B. Johnson, R. W. Christy · Physical review. B, Solid state 15 Dec 1972 20,103
2 Density-functional approximation for the correlation energy of the inhomogeneous electron gas John P. Perdew · Physical review. B, Condensed matter 15 Jun 1986 18,902
3 Atomic Force Microscope Gerd K. Binnig, C. F. Quate, Ch. Gerber · Physical Review Letters Open access 3 Mar 1986 14,628
4 Theory of Superconductivity J. Bardeen, Leon N. Cooper, J. R. Schrieffer · Physical Review Open access Dec 1957 13,231
5 Giant Magnetoresistance of (001)Fe/(001)Cr Magnetic Superlattices M. N. Baibich, J.M. Broto, ALBERT FERT et al. · Physical Review Letters Open access 21 Nov 1988 9,354
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Surface and Thin Film Phenomena research done?

The largest centres of Surface and Thin Film Phenomena research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Moscow (Russia), Tokyo (Japan) and Paris (France). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Tsukuba.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 61 works
  2. 2 MoscowRussia 44 works
  3. 3 TokyoJapan 30 works
  4. 4 ParisFrance 25 works
  5. 5 TsukubaJapan 23 works
  6. 6 HefeiChina 21 works
  7. 7 ShanghaiChina 19 works
  8. 8 BerlinGermany 12 works
  9. 9 Saint PetersburgRussia 12 works
  10. 10 SeoulSouth Korea 12 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. TsukubaJP · 22.5 works13×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Surface and Thin Film Phenomena than the world average.

See Surface and Thin Film Phenomena on the map

Where is the best place to study Surface and Thin Film Phenomena?

Among universities, judged by research, University of Science and Technology of China, The University of Osaka and The University of Tokyo score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1University of Science and Technology of ChinaChina 83.016.9%6.5×10 +40.7%
2The University of OsakaJapan 32.913.9%9.8×8 -46.3%
3The University of TokyoJapan 23.75.4%5.4×9 -46.1%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Surface and Thin Film Phenomena, country by country

Is Surface and Thin Film Phenomena research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 23% lower than in 2018-2021, peaking in 1993.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Surface and Thin Film Phenomena as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0062% in 2024.

still counting0.050%0.10%0.15%Surface and Thin Film Phenomena0.0055% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Surface and Thin Film Phenomena over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Surface and Thin Film Phenomena10.1% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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