Technology Transfer Department

Application sectors

Problem to solve

The characterization and qualification of materials and components can be carried out with the equipments and thanks to the skills present in the Laboratory. The Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) allows the study of surface morphology and microstructure in conductive and non-conductive samples. Using Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) it is possible to recognize and quantify the elements present in the samples, while it is possible to identify the crystalline phases and quantify them using EBSD. It is possible to create maps of the elements and of the size and orientation of the grains. Conductive and non-conductive, crystalline and amorphous, organic and inorganic samples can be observed. SEM is also used for particle analysis and for fractographies and recognition of the causes of component failure. X-ray diffraction instead allows the recognition of the crystalline phases present in a sample both in powder and massive form.

Description

The Laboratory is equipped with: Optical Microscopes, Scanning electron microscopes (SEM), X-ray diffractometer for structural investigations by diffraction The instruments used in the laboratories and their characteristics are shown below: i) Scanning electron microscope SEM EVO MA 15 by Zeiss (CR Casaccia), Acceleration voltage 0.2-30 kV. Thermionic effect source. Equipped with: Backscattered Electron Detector (BSD), Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS), Electron Backscatter Diffraction Detector (EBSD). It can also work in VP mode; ii) Scanning electron microscope SEM Leo 1530 by Zeiss (CR Casaccia), Acceleration voltage 0.2-30 kV. Schottky field emission source. Equipped with: Backscattered Electron Detector (BSD), Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS); iii) X-Ray diffractometer XRD SmartLab Rigaku (CR Casaccia), Diffractometer with automatic alignment of the optics, Cu ka source (3kW X-Ray sealed tube) and D/teX Ultra 250 detector, 1D silicon strip detector with subtraction of fluorescence phenomena. Possibility of working with capillary in Convergent Beam mode (CBO-E). The laboratories also contain the necessary equipment for sample preparation: cutters, manual and automatic polishers, sputter coaters (Au and Cr) and evaporators (C, Al) for non-conductive samples, systems for electrochemical attacks.

Research group involved