Applied Chemical and Morphological Analysis Laboratory Newsblog

Course in Surface and Interface Science

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Surface ArraySurface and Interface Science CH5665/MSE5665

(3 credits)
WF 1-2 p.m., M 1-4 p.m. (lab)

Course Description – covers an advanced study of:

  • surface processes
  • properties of crystalline surfaces
  • surface analysis methods
  • applications towards materials science, heterogeneous catalysis, environmental science, semiconductor and energy industries

Objectives

  • Understand the physical and chemical processes on a surface
  • Distinguish differences between surface science techniques and their respective capabilities
  • Analyze example data from surface science techniques
  • Recognize, review and interpret surface science literature
  • Design an experiment (or project) and choose a surface science technique that would solve a proposed hypothesis

For more information contact:

Dr. Kathryn A. Perrine
kaperrin@mtu.edu

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Surface Analysis Using the XPS

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PHI 5800 X-ray Photoelectron Spectrometer
PHI 5800 X-ray Photoelectron Spectrometer

Analyzing the surface of materials takes X-ray vision.

To do so, researchers peer into the surface chemistry of materials using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). At Michigan Technological University, the Applied Chemical and Morphological Analysis Laboratory (ACMAL) delves into surfaces with a PHI 5800 XPS.

Read more at Be Brief: Surface, by Allison Mills.

Timothy Leftwich, research assistant professor of materials science, helps researchers to collect, analyze, and understand their XPS data at the ACMAL facility. Kathryn Perrine, assistant professor of chemistry, helped to bring the XPS instrument to Tech and teaches students and researchers to understand surface processes. They both bring expertise in surface science and analysis of materials.

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Gold Quantum Dots Observed with S-TEM

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Gold Quantum DotYoke Khin Yap, professor of physics at Michigan Tech, led the study. He explains that the behavior his team observed — atomic-level manipulation of gold quantum dots — can be seen with a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM). The STEM’s high-powered beam of electrons enables researchers like Yap to watch atomic movement in real-time and the view reveals how gold atoms interact with the surface of boron nitride nanotubes. Basically, the gold atoms glide along the surface of the nanotubes and, they stabilize in a hover just above the hexagon honeycomb of the boron nitride nanotubes.

Read more at Michigan Tech News, by Allison Mills.

Related:

Atomic Zoom: Michigan Tech’s Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope

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S-TEM Images for Al-Sc Alloy

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S-TEM Al Sc imagesPaul Sanders, Patrick Horvath Endowed Associate Professor of materials science and engineering, and materials science and engineering graduate student Yang Yang, are trying to strengthen aluminum by adding scandium to it.

The aberration-corrected FEI Titan Themis scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) in Michigan Tech’s Applied Chemical and Morphological Analysis Laboratory, makes an electron beam less than an atom in width. This allows researchers to scan through samples one atom column at a time. Additionally, the lab has a SuperXTM X-ray detector, which is an array of four detectors to collect four times more X-rays than a conventional detector.

Combining the two techniques, researchers can element map at atomic resolution.

Read more at Unscripted, by Kelley Christensen.

Related:

S-TEM Provides Insight to Alloy Behavior

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