Contact person
Alexander Wärnheim
Forskare
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Platform for multiscale surface and interface analysis
When assessing the chemical properties materials, information from a single location is rarely enough to understand a process. In Kista, RISE has a state-of-the-art equipment for performing spatially resolved vibrational spectroscopy on the macro-, micro-, and nanoscale along with cells for tracking time-resolved surface reactions.
Purpose
Materials and their surfaces exhibit behaviors and characteristics at multiple scales, with variations dependent on both time and location along the material. Corrosion products on a metal surface can form homogeneously across an entire surface or spread from initiation points. Degradation reactions in protective coatings can initiate at the surface and slowly progress into the coating, or failure can occur underneath the coating without any discernible changes at the surface. These are examples of complex behaviors that can easily be misunderstood or completely missed unless the correct type of analysis is performed. RISEs platform for multiscale surface and interface analysis aims to enable customers and partners to gain a deeper understanding of complex processes, and suggestions of how to use this knowledge in their day to day business.
Analysis tools
Chemical analysis can be performed at different spatial scales:
- Without spatial resolution. These methods include Attenuated total reflection (ATR), transmission (both solid and liquid samples), photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS), and reflection including infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (IRRAS). In addition to high signal-to-noise ratio these methods can also be combined with time resolved analysis and follow reactions and in situ.
- At the microscale. The FTIR microscope in Kista can perform hyperspectral imaging collecting up to 4096 spectra in parallel at a spatial resolution of up to a few µm.
- At the nanoscale. With the possibility of performing IR spectroscopy or chemical mapping with a spatial resolution of just 10 nm.
In addition to infrared spectroscopy, complementary Scanning Kelvin probe (SKPFM) and topographical analysis is also available.
The instruments that are part of the platform are listed below:
- Vertex 70 spectrometer with a wide array of accessories, and cells.
- Hyperion 3000 with both MCT and spatially resolved FPA detectors
- NanoIR3, including AFM-IR and topographical measurements with humidity control, and SKPFM
Deliverables
Deliverables are customized to the need of the customer and can include reports, oral presentations, or raw data.
Examples of previous results
One appliction of FTIR-Focal plane array (FPA) spatially resolved spectroscopic imaging is to compare levels of degradation along the cross section of a coating. The image to the left show that before being exposed to damaging radiation, the coating is chemically homogenious. After exposure the relative levels of degradation close to the surface is high and gradually decreases further as we go further into the bulk.
AFM-IR measurements can for example be used to both find and determine the location and size of different chemical species with high spatial resolution. The image to the right illustrates the formation of sulphur-containing corrosion products have formed on a metal surface after it was exposed to an aggressive atmosphere.
