Research: Analytics

CURRENT RESEARCH
Analysis of processes, materials, and their properties on the nanometer scale.

GOAL
The core facility "Interdisciplinary Center for Analytics on the Nanoscale (ICAN)" provides scientists at UDE – as well as their research collaborators – with an outstanding opportunity to analyze materials from the millimeter down to the nanoscale.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Microscopy center with complementary methods for high-resolution surface and nanoanalysis
  • Organized as an open core facility funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG)
  • Service measurements for internal and external research groups

We have access to a unique and extensive pool of methods to facilitate this approach. Spectro­scopic, microscopic, and diffraction-based techniques are available for structural analysis and to investigate dynamic processes. In addition, ICAN offers methods to characterize electrical and thermal conductivity, photoconductivity, and optical absorbance of nanomaterials. The core of ICAN is a microscopy center in the NETZ building where specialized laboratories can work isolated against environmental influences on high-resolution microscopic techniques:

  • A high resolution, aberration-corrected transmission electron microscope (Cs-corrected TEM) for morphological, chemical, and structural characterization on the atomic scale
  • A micro-focus x-ray photoelectron spectrometer (micro-focus XPS) for analysis of the chemical composition and structure and the bonding states of elements, such as the degree of oxidation
  • A time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometer (TOF-SIMS) for surface characterization, depth profiling, and 3D analysis of chemical compositions with a sensitivity in the ppm range
  • A scanning Auger electron microscope (SAM) for analysis of the chemical composition of surface layers and interfaces with a lateral resolution down to the sub-10 nm range and for characterization of individual nanostructures
  • An atomic force microscope/scanning probe microscope (AFM/SPM) for characterization of the structure, topography, and morphology of surfaces, and for laterally resolved quantitative analysis of chemical, mechanical, and electrical/electronic surface properties

The microscopy techniques are complemented by comprehensive sample preparation and further analytical methods within each ­research group of CENIDE. To request analysis of your material, obtain access to the microscopy center as a user, or learn more, please visit www.cenide.de/ican

INVOLVED RESEARCH GROUPS