Surface Analysis

MRL’s surface analysis suite provides a variety of instrumentation for surface chemical analysis, ranging from accelerator-based techniques to various spectroscopy, spectrometry, and profilometry tools.

Techniques

Atom Probe Tomography

The Cameca Local Electrode Atom Probe (LEAP) 5000XS uses field evaporation of atoms from a needle-shaped specimen to generate three-dimensional (3D) information at near atomic resolution and possessing chemical sensitivity that can reach parts per million.

Accelerator-based Techniques

Ion particles accelerated to high energy (0.5 – 3 MeV) can be used for ion implantation of materials and also for non-destructive analytical techniques involving scattering processes such as Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS).

Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry

In secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), a focused ion beam is directed to a solid surface, removing material in the form of neutral and ionized atoms and molecules.

X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy

In X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), also called electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA), X-rays excite photoelectrons, and the emitted electron signal is plotted as a spectrum of binding energies.

Surface Profilometry

Surface profilometry is a contact measurement technique in which a diamond-tipped stylus is used to measure surface topography as it moves across the surface of a specimen.

Equipment in this Core

Equipment Name Contact Location Techniques
Equipment Name Contact Location Techniques
Kratos Supra+ XPS
  • Richard T Haasch r-haasch
  • Mohammad Amdad Ali mali85
B08 MRL
  • X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy

The Kratos Supra+ XPS features: Excitation Sources Dual Anode X-ray Source: Mg, Al Monochromatic Xray Source: Al Detection System Small Area Extraction Optics: Hybrid Spherical Capacitor Electron Energy Analyzer for Spectroscopy and 2-D Imaging

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Cameca LEAP 5000XS Atom Probe Tomography
  • Timothy Spila tspila
  • Wacek Swiech wswiech
B01 MRL
  • Atom Probe Tomography

The Cameca Local Electrode Atom Probe (LEAP) 5000XS uses field evaporation of atoms from a needle-shaped specimen to generate three-dimensional (3D) information at near atomic resolution and possessing chemical sensitivity that can reach parts per million.

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Sloan Dektak3ST Profilometer
  • Kathy Walsh kawalsh
  • Timothy Spila tspila
B80 MRL
  • Surface Profilometry

Surface profilometry is a contact measurement technique in which a diamond-tipped stylus is used to measure surface topography as it moves across the surface of a specimen.

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Physical Electronics Trift III
  • Timothy Spila tspila
B04 MRL
  • Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry

The PHI TRIFT III is a Time of Flight SIMS, which uses a pulsed primary beam to generate secondary ions which are mass separated by the amount of time it takes for the secondary ion to reach the detector. This produces a full mass spectrum from each primary pulse. The primary strengths of TOF-SIMS are surface/near surface analysis with low detection limits, isotopic analysis, imaging, and rapid depth profiling. Sensitivity to hydrogen, lithium, and elemental isotopes allow for measurements on metal, semiconductor, polymer, and biological samples.

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NEC Pelletron Accelerator
  • Timothy Spila tspila
  • Wacek Swiech wswiech
130 MRL
  • Accelerator-based Techniques

The NEC Pelletron accelerator can accelerate H and He ions to 2 MeV for He+ and 3 MeV for He2+. There is a single beam line for RBS and ERDA experiments.

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