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UNT Insider | June 2008 Issue | Discovery Park |
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Center for Advanced Research and Technology's new equipment to boost materials studyFrom a UNT News Service press release |
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Discovery Park The Center for Advanced Research and Technology, or CART, at UNT has received two new instruments to expand its ability to study nanoscale films and features on ceramics, metals, semiconductors and other materials for electronic, energy and sensor applications. A scanning Auger nanoprobe and a scanning X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy microprobe, or XPS microprobe, were installed at UNT's Discovery Park in March and are now in operation. J.D. Luttmer, director of CART, says the new instruments are being used by UNT researchers from the departments of materials science and engineering, chemistry and physics. The scanning Auger nanoprobe is used to study the surface of a given material. An electron beam is aimed at the surface of the material and the probe then analyzes the pattern of electrons that are emitted from the surface of the material. "The electrons that are emitted are known as Auger electrons, and serve as the 'fingerprint' of the specific atoms that make up the material," Luttmer says. Luttmer added the scanning XPS microprobe can be used "to analyze the chemical bond states as well as the composition of a variety of materials including metals, ceramics and polymers." The microprobe uses a highly focused X-ray beam to scan the sample surface. It also can be used to determine the elemental composition of surface materials, spot elements that contaminate a material's surface, and assess the uniformity of elemental composition across a given surface. Luttmer says both new instruments complement the more than two dozen instruments already at CART for advanced characterization and processing of materials. CART is a university-wide center with an emphasis in the science and engineering disciplines and a concentration in materials characterization. It was established in 2004 and is based at UNT's Discovery Park, the home of UNT's College of Engineering. |
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