The Microscopy Lab of NAFUMA group is equipped with an advanced set of instruments. Read further about the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), and our two Scanning Probe Microscopes (SPM)s - Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) and Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) - to learn more about how they work and to explore the possibilities they provide!
The Scanning Electron Microscope
A SEM uses focused electrons at a certain density and acceleration voltage to scan a surface in the Nanometer scale. The primary electrons excite other electrons from the surface atoms (the detected, so-called secondary electrons). If an electron of an outer shell fills the formed hole, element-specific X-rays are emitted. A part of the primary electrons is scattered back after surface interaction, especially if heavy elements are present. All these interactions bear information on surface shape and composition and are of great interest for all disciplines dealing with materials.
The Atomic Force Microscope
Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) is a member of the Scanning probe microscopy (SPM) family, a group of various surface sensitive characterization techniques where the information is acquired by scanning the sample surface using micromachined cantilever with atomically sharp tips. They have evolved to the most powerful nanoscale surface imaging and measurement tool with a wide range of modes to study the materials properties including magnetic, electric and mechanical properties. The high-resolution topographical surface characterization is the most widely used mode of SPM.
The Scanning Tunneling Microscope
Since the invention (1981) and awarding of Noble prize (1986) to Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer, a tremendous advance in STM instrumentation has been done, allowing for multiple applications of this technique in surface science, electronics, catalysis, electrochemistry, etc.