CENEM Core Facility - Nanocharacterization with Electrons, X-rays and Scanning Probes

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The Center for Nanoanalysis and Electron Microscopy (CENEM) at the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) closely brings together the three pillars of nanocharacterization: electron microscopy, scattering methods and scanning probes. The mission of the CENEM core facility is to provide dedicated instrumentation and expertise in these fields to scientists at the FAU, at other research institutes as well as to industry. The CENEM runs user facilities in all three fields and provides different modes of access, depending on instrumentation and user profile. The independent use of instruments after training and the cooperation with the CENEM research groups for more advanced studies turned out to be the most favored ones. In order to keep the CENEM at the forefront of research with nanocharacterization techniques during the past three years the CENEM has acquired, with the help of the University, cutting-edge instrumentation in each field and has already started to establish the instruments in own research and in collaborations with users. A modern FIB/SEM instrument as well as a double-corrected, monochromated TEM with extensive eauipment have been installed and put into operation in CENEMs electron microscopy unit in 2013 and 2014, respectively. Moreover, dedicated TEM sample holders have been acquired and put into operation, enabling, e.g., nanomechanical and electrical testing, chip-based sample heating, conventional and 360° electron tomography as well as vacuum or inert gas transfer of sensitive samples. In CENEMs scattering unit two SAXS instruments have been installed, a smaller standard SAXS machine for external user access and a specially-developed large SAXS/GISAXS machine for advanced collaborative CENEM work. A speciality of CENEMs scattering unit is the development of dedicated sample environments in collaboration with users, e.g., for the in situ investigation of film drying processes under controlled atmospheres. In CENEMs scanning probe, apart from the existing instruments and methods (large chamber SEM, nanoindentation, AFM), a state of the art atom probe tomography instrument will become available for 3D nanocharacterization on the sub-Nanometer scale nicely complementing the existing nanoanalytical techniques in CENEMs electron microscopy facility. In the second funding period the CENEM core facility project aims at consolidating this progress bringing all these new instruments and advanced techniques into CENEMs regular user access. Moreover the project will help to further develop the CENEM into a sustainable platform for nanocharacterization research with complementary techniques by bringing the three research areas even closer together. This includes dedicated workshops and research schools for user as well as education of students and young scientists.