High-resolution X-ray microscopy for correlative tomography, fast screening and in situ mechanical testing of structural and functional materials

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The ultimate goal of materials engineering is the design of new materials with tailored properties. This requires information on the structure and mechanisms at all length scales and their complex interplay. On the experimental side this generates a strong need for high throughput and site-specific microscopic studies and a workflow which correlates complementary characterization methods at different length scales. The Center for Nanoanalysis and Electron Microscopy (CENEM) of the FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg provides cutting edge instrumentation for 3D characterization at small and medium length scales, including atom probe tomography, (S)TEM tomography and FIB tomography. At large length scales X-ray tomography methods are well established for materials characterization and failure analysis. Due to continuous improvements in X-ray technology resolutions down to sub-micron scale can now be achieved with modern micro- and Nano-CT equipment. However, so far only X-ray optics adopted from synchrotron sources achieve, on a regular basis, resolutions down to 50 nm in lab based microscope setups. This amazing resolution allows directly bridging the gap in sample volume and feature size between two non-destructive tomography techniques, X-ray and electron tomography. Directly linking electron tomography and X-ray tomography also connects fundamental, physics-based materials research with engineering applications. The scale-bridging 3D analysis enabled by correlative tomography furthermore provides important input for multiscale modeling approaches and integrated computational materials engineering. In this proposal we aim to complement the excellent instrumentation at CENEM with cutting-edge X-ray microscopy/nano-CT equipment and to establish workflows and data structures for correlative 3D characterization and modeling across length scales. In particular, we want to achieve the following: develop correlative 3D microscopy with complementary tomography techniques, establish scale-bridging materials characterization using site-specific preparation, perform non-destructive 3D in situ studies, including micromechanical tests, establish methods for direct use of 3D data for modelling and simulation of materials, and develop new fast screening approaches for combinatorial thin film research. The research efforts in this field will be sustained by a new professorship on Tomography of Materials and Processes, which will be jointly appointed by the FAU and the Development Center for X-Ray Technology (EZRT) of the Fraunhofer IIS. This project directly contributes to engineering of structural and functional materials in FAUs main research area New Materials and Processes, which comprises, among others, several Collaborative Research Centers (SFB/TR103, SFB814, SFB 953), the Research Training Group GRK1896 In Situ Microscopy with Electrons, X-Rays and Ecanning Probes, and the Cluster of Excellence Engineering of Advanced Materials.