Materials science

One of our main laboratory tools is the high-power and high-brightness versatile scanning electron transmission electron microscope, which provides solutions for a wide range of applications. Depending on the beam detected by the scanning electron microscope (SEM), secondary electrons can be used to obtain sample surface information (topography SE image) or elemental composition (atomic number) sensitive backscattered electrons to obtain BSE images or chemical composition.

By measuring the characteristic X-ray emission produced with an Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS), chemical composition can be determined, which is essential for applications in materials science, mineralogy and earth sciences.

Surface analysis of nanostructures, resolution up to 1.5 nm. Resolution: high vacuum mode: 1,5 nm (30 kV), 4,0 nm (1 kV); low vacuum mode: 1,8 nm (15 kV).

Chemical analysis of materials with SDD EDS detector. The large vacuum chamber of the electron microscope can accommodate samples up to 200 mm in diameter, 75 mm high and 500 g in weight.

Several different sample holders, even with special technical features, are available for different types of samples.

Further mineralogical analysis is carried out with an X-ray diffractometer and a mineralogical microscope.

For granulometric analyses we use laser diffraction grain size analysers. The measurement is performed by wet dispersion.

Our available laboratory equipment:

JEOL JSM-IT500HR/LA Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FEG-SEM)

Rigaku MiniFlex 600 X-ray diffractometer

Nikon Eclipse polarisation microscope with transmitted and incident light, camera and special thin section analysis software (Petroledge)

Malvern Mastersizer 3000 laser particle sizer