MSE Core Research Facility

This advanced equipment allows us to grow high-quality oxide thin films right here on campus, opening up a world of research opportunities for our faculty and students. Initiated by Professor Soumendra Basu and PhD candidate Emily Ghosh, and maintained by Paul Mak of the Photonics Center and MSE, anyone will have the chance to buy their own supplies and grow their own thin films.

Professor Basu shared, “There are numerous applications for this equipment, and many faculty members and researchers are working on different projects that will benefit greatly from having this resource on hand.”

Graduate students will be trained as “superusers” to help new users get started, under the guidance of our photonics staff. Special shoutout to Emily Ghosh and Professor Basu for their hard work in bringing this cutting-edge technology to our division!

Stay tuned for more updates on this exciting addition. For inquiries, reach out to Professor Basu at basu@bu.edu.

More info about the PLD system:

Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) is a physical vapor deposition process used to fabricate high quality thin films in ultra-high vacuum. A high-power pulsed laser is used to ablate a target material, forming a vapor plume of the target’s material. The plume interacts with the tailored gas environment of the chamber to create a plasma of the material that then deposits on the substrate to form a thin film.

This technique allows for thin film deposition of a wide range of complex materials, such as complex oxides used in the solid oxide cell electrodes, that could otherwise not be easily fabricated using other physical vapor deposition techniques.

In-situ characterization techniques, such as reflection high-energy diffraction (RHEED), can be used in conjunction with the deposition to provide real-time information about the growth mechanisms of the films.

Two Bruker X-Ray systems have been acquired by an NSF MRI award led by Prof. Ludwig, and are available for faculty use. Dr. Jeffrey Bacon (Chemistry) (jwbacon@bu.edu) oversees training and maintenance on these two systems. The N8 Horizon and the D8 Discover systems are complementary, and allow for small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS and WAXS).
The N8 Horizon, introduced by Bruker in 2012, is one of the first such systems installed in the US. The instrument is designed for compact spaces and has transmission and grazing incidence SAXS capabilities.

The D8 Discover is a very versatile WAXS system with general x-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution XRD, reciprocal space mapping, grazing incidence diffraction, x-ray reflectivity, pole-figure analysis, and sample heating (1000°C) capabilities.

A Zeiss Xradia 410 Versa system was acquired and set up through a separate NSF MRI award, led by Professor Elise Morgan (ME, BME, MSE) (efmorgan@bu.edu).  This tool bridges the gap between high-performing X-ray microscopy (XRM) and less powerful computed tomography (CT) systems. This system provides quantitative 3-D characterization of materials microstructure at multiple length scales down to the sub-micron, including porosity, density, surface area, and topological measures such as 3-D connectivity.

The AFM-FM Microscope that was housed in the core facility is currently undergoing major improvements via a third NSF MRI award led by Professor Bennett Goldberg (Physics, BME, ECE, MSE). In conjunction with Asylum, the system is being retrofitted with Raman Spectroscopy for enhanced tip capability.

Next to the AFM is a new Renishaw Raman Microscope system that includes a heating/cooling stage and multiple wavelengths for Raman observation. This tool was purchased via the Photonics Center Capital Equipment Committee and is open to all Photonics and Materials Science & Engineering faculty.

In the basement of the Photonics Center, the Focused Ion Beam/Transmission Electron Microscope Facility is comprised of two laboratories consisting of 600 square feet, and is overseen by Dr. Alexey Nikiforov (Photonics) (alnik@bu.edu). This laboratory houses a recently purchased FEI Quanta 3D FEG FIB (Field Emission Gun Focused Ion Beam) system and a FEI Tecnai Osiris 200kV S/TEM (Scanning/Transmission Electron Microscope).

The FEI Quanta 3D FEG FIB is a powerful tool for SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) imaging to aid removal and deposition of materials at a micro/nano scale with a resolution of 1.2 nm in the HiVac mode, 2.9 nm in LoVac mode, and 7 nm with the FIB column. The system includes gas injector modules (GIS) and an Omniprobe micromanipulator can be used for TEM sample preparation and lift-out. A Peltier/Heating Stage Control Kit allows for the study of in situ dynamic behavior of materials at different humidity (up to 100% RH) and temperatures (-10°C to 1000°C).

The FEI Tecnai Osiris 200V S/TEM is a versatile scanning transmission electron microscope that allows for bright-field/dark-field imaging, selected area and convergent beam diffraction, and high-resolution imaging with a point-to-point resolution of 0.25nm, and line resolution of 0.102 nm, extended to 0.16 nm with TrueImage™ software, and a STEM resolution of 0.18 nm. The system can seamlessly switch between TEM and STEM modes. The system also includes energy dispersive x-ray (Super-X EDX) capabilities for composition analysis and mapping, and energy filtered TEM with electron energy loss spectroscopy (Gatan EELS) for light element quantification and mapping.

A new sample preparation room to prepare electron transparent samples for use in the TEM is currently operational and open to all Photonics and Materials Science & Engineering faculty. Through equipment purchases at the Photonics Center, a grinder, cut-off saw, disc cutter, automated polishing and lapping equipment, dimpler, and ion mill are all installed.

The materials processing area is comprised of two Salare hoods that are dedicated to acid and base processing. Table space is provided within this room to allow for sample preparation and oven use if applicable.