This book is based partially on graduate courses held at the Physics Department
of the University of Southern Denmark in Odense. While there is
a large variety of excellent books specializing either in surface science or in
optics and spectroscopy, a self-consistent book on optics and spectroscopy of
surfaces and interfaces is apparently missing. It is this gap that our textbook
tries to fill at a level which is accessible for students and beginners in this
field but with enough depth to make it interesting also for the advanced user
of optical techniques at surfaces. We realize that optical interface analysis
has found applications in diverse fields of science and technology and has
become an essential tool in physics, chemistry, materials and life sciences. The
potential readers of this book will therefore have rather different knowledge
levels, but we hope that most of them will benefit from reading some parts or
the complete book.