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 Name	Contact	Location	Techniques
Equipment Name	Contact	Location	Techniques
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. See More Details
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. See More Details
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. See More Details
Kratos Axis ULTRA	Richard T Haasch r-haasch Mohammad Amdad Ali mali85	B81 MRL	X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy	The Kratos Axis ULTRA 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 See More Details
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. See More Details