In recent years substantial progress has been made in the detection of surface phonons owing to considerable improvements in inelastic rare gas scattering tech niques and electron energy loss spectroscopy. With these methods it has become possible to measure surface vibrations in a wide energy range for all wave vectors in the two-dimensional Brillouin zone and thus to deduce the complete surface phonon dispersion curves. Inelastic atomic beam scattering and electron energy loss spectroscopy have started to play a role in the study of surface phonons similar to the one played by inelastic neutron scattering in the investigation of bulk phonons in the last thirty years. Detailed comparison between experimen tal results and theoretical studies of inelastic surface scattering and of surface phonons has now become feasible. It is therefore possible to test and to improve the details of interaction models which have been worked out theoretically in the last few decades. At this point we felt that a concise, coherent and self-contained guide to the rapidly growing field of surface phonons was needed."

This phonon atlas presents a collection of phonon-dispersion and density-of states curves of more than a hundred insulating crystals. It grew out of an appendix to a handbook article on phonon spectra 2.1J from which it was fin ally separated mainly because this phonon atlas provides a rather self-con tained tool for every scientist who is working in the field of dynamical properties of solids. He often may find it' useful to have a handy documen tation of the experimental phonon dispersion curves which have been measured so far, together with information on calculated dispersion relations and densities of states. The book will be found to be incomplete by readers who are interested not only in phonon frequencies of a specific crystal but would also like to know about related properties such as elastic and dielectric constants. This is, at the present time, beyond the scope of this volume, but the authors would welcome all suggestions and criticism which could be considered for a forth coming edition. Furthermore, we would be pleased to provide interested readers with information about phonon spectra which came to our knowledge after completion of the manuscript. On the other hand, we will be most grateful for all information about phonon dispersion curves which is missing in our collection or new data for further editions."