Members

KTH Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)

State-of-the-art electron microscopy characterization facilities for research are available in three locations: The Functional Materials unit and the Material Physics unit at the Department of Applied Physics, the Department of Fibre and Polymer Technology and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Field Emission Transmission Electron Microscopes (JEM – 2100F and Hitachi TEM HT7700), and FIB-SEMs (Dual Beam FIB-SEM FEI Nova 600, Quanta 3D FEI) are some of the major facilities apart from several scanning electron microscopes. Research expertise in the characterization of nanoparticulate matters including films and coatings, semiconductor circuits, cellulosic materials as well as metals and minerals are some of the main areas. Adequate experience in sample preparation techniques from soft matters to hard materials forms the hallmark of KTH Royal Institute of Technology expertise in electron microscopy. For this, several sample preparation equipment are available for users. Dedicated microscopy experts in the three locations are available for discussion and assistance all the way from sample preparation to examination in our microscopy facilities.

Functional Materials Unit

The core-competence of the members in Functional Materials Unit is in the ability to design and fabricate nanostructured materials tailored for specific applications. From the outset, FNM strategy has been in technology development grounded in reality and practicality focusing on R&D that has the potential to be transformed into application. Current research activities are directed in water treatment including Enhanced adsorption/desorption processes, Visible Light photocatalysis, Anti-fouling coatings and structures and Capacitive Deionisation. We also have activities in quantum dot and Perovskite solar cells and novel hydrogen production from cellulose. In biomedical applications of nanostructures MR contrasting agents, drug delivery and release and photoluminescent contrast agents are of interest.

Material Physics unit

Picture of the KTH UEM with UV (blue) and pump(green) laser beam parths indicated.

Sweden’s only ultrafast electron microscope (UEM) is located at the Material Physics unit at KTH. The KTH UEM is operating in stroboscopic (pump probe) mode where a femtosecond laser pulse is steered into the modified TEM column and directed onto the cathode to, through a photoemission, generate an ultra-short electron pulse. The femtosecond electron pulse travels through the column to the sample. A second laser pulse (from the same laser source) is directed through an adjustable optical path towards the sample to initiate the desired change in state (chemical reaction, phase transition, mechanical motion, etc.), thus enabling a temporal reference point (time zero) for the changes that occur. By fine-tuning, at the femtosecond time scale, the relative arrival time of the laser pulse (pump or clocking pulse) and electron pulse (probe pulse), a series of micrographs (or diffraction patterns) can be recorded during the process of change in state and information on many aspects of its dynamic or transient properties can be obtained. The KTH UEM has demonstrated sub nm resolution in conventional microscopy, a precision of a few thousandths of an Ångström in diffraction mode, and a time resolution < 800 femtoseconds. This is 10 orders of magnitude better than conventional microscopes, which are limited by the video-camera rate of recording. The microscope is a customized JEOL 2100 with a thermionic emitter, additional electron optics, and a Gatan Quantum SE imaging energy filter. The drive laser is an Amplitude Systems Tangerine 35 W (300 fs). The demonstrated time resolution of the UEM is < 800 fs.

The Department of Fibre and Polymer Technology (FPT)

FPT is the largest academic institution on native and synthetic polymers in Sweden. The combination of the traditionally separate fields of natural and synthetic polymers is unique and allows FPT to address several important issues such as future demands on a sustainable material use in society.

The research ranges from monomer and polymer syntheses and characterization to modelling/simulation, processing, long-term properties and material performance, degradation and functionalities. Wood based materials dominate the field of native polymers although materials derived from crops are becoming increasingly important.

FPT has identified four specific areas of strategic importance; materials from renewable resources, nano-structured materials, materials for medical applications, and materials for the field of energy. These areas are closely connected to what has been defined as the “Global Challenges” which ensures relevance for society.

The department staff is very active in both undergraduate and graduate programs at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. The strong research activities are linked to the educational program with most of the faculty involved in both teaching and research activities. The department is organised in six divisions and one excellence centre and has a shared instrument facility. The divisions are strongly linked with numerous shared projects demonstrating that the department is a suitable platform for both successful research and education.

The Department of Materials Science and Engineering

The Department of Materials Science and Engineering at KTH is organised in three different units focusing on the processing, structures and properties of engineering materials. The main research activities at present are devoted to metallic materials such as e.g. steels, high-entropy alloys and hard metals but also other structural and functional materials are being investigated. The fabrication, processing, usage and recycling of these materials are key issues. The Department has expertise in experimental characterization tools such as electron microscopy, thermal analysis, x-ray and neutron scattering as well as modelling tools such as first-principles calculations, computational thermodynamics, fluid dynamics and microstructure modelling. The Department is pioneering in Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME).

Further details can be found via the following links:

Instruments
Background to Ultrafast electron microcopy

Stockholm University

The Electron Microscopy Centre at Stockholm University (EMC-SU) has three TEMs, three SEMs and a variety of sample preparation equipment and offers various microscopy, diffraction and spectroscopy for comprehensive materials characterizations from micron to atomic scale (sub-Å). Two JEOL TEMs have <2Å resolution and the new aberration-corrected FEI Themis Z installed at the end of 2018 can achieve 60 pm resolution at 300 kV. Our facilities are capable of analysing catalysts, alloys, ceramics, thin films, nanoparticles, polymers, celluloses, zeolites, metal-organic frameworks, semiconductors, carbon-nanostructures, hybrid-materials, proteins, bacteria etc. The combination of a numbers of TEM sample holders and advance cameras and detectors allows to investigate the dynamics of samples, for example at different temperatures and in short time intervals (<10 ms), and is also beneficial for studying the traditional beam-sensitive materials. In addition, most of the TEMs and their attached devices are computerized and this is a necessity and an advantage for programmable acquisition and new electron microscopy method development.

EMC has around 40 regular scientific users, mainly from the Department of Materials and Environmental Chemistry. It is our highest ambition to have an environment that enable the scientists to develop their skills in TEM and associated techniques according to their ambition and capability. The individual competence varies widely depending of their scientific interest. Some of our scientists and application specialists are listed in the table below.

he brief specification and highlights of our TEMs:

JEOL JEM 2100

LaB6 filament
200 kV, 120 kV, 80 kV
TEM and STEM
High Tilt Polepieces (HTP) (Cs=1.4mm)
Resolution: Point=2.5Å, Lattice=1.4Å
Gatan Orius 200D camera
Gatan Orius SC1000 camera
Timpix Quad direct electron detector
STEM-ADF detector (JEOL)
SE and BSE detector (JEOL)
Precession diffraction device (JEOL & NanoMEGAS)

JEOL JEM 2100F

Schottky-type field-emission gun
200 kV, 80 kV
TEM and STEM
Ultra-high Resolution Polepieces (URP) (Cs=0.5mm)
Resolution: Point=1.9Å, Lattice=1.0Å, Information limit=1.3Å
JEOL EDS detector (Resolution=138eV)
Gatan Orius 200D camera
Gatan Ultrascan 1000 camera
Gatan GIF Tridiem
STEM-ADF & BF detectors (JEOL and Gatan with Digiscan)
SE and BSE detector (JEOL)

FEI Themis Z

X-FEG with monochromator (0.2-0.3 eV energy resolution)
300 kV, 200 kV, 60 kV
TEM and STEM
Image and Probe correctors: CEOS DCOR
Super-twin wide pole-piece
Resolution: 300 kV: ≤ 60 pm, 200kV: ≤ 70 pm, 60 kV: ≤100 pm
Lorentz microscopy
SuperX EDS detector (Resolution ≤136 eV, Detectable Z≥B)
Gatan OneView camera with in-situ option (4kx4k, ≥300 fps at 512x512)
GIF Quantum 965 ER with DualEELS (Energy spread: 0.15 eV at 300 kV, CCD for image filter: 2kx2k)
STEM Detectors: FEI BF, ADF (DPC), ABF and HAADF; Gatan BF and DF

In addition EMC has a standard set of instruments for TEM and SEM sample preparations, for details see the EMC homepage. EMC has three Scanning Electron Microscopes for details see the EMC homepage as above.

Uppsala university

The Electron Microscopy facility at the Ångström Laboratory of Uppsala University is an open facility. The facility builds on Uppsala’s long tradition in electron microscopy and spectroscopies. It serves all types of materials science, chemistry and physics, both addressing hard and soft matter. It is technically managed by the MSL (microstructure laboratory). Electron microscopy analysis and methods are built in the ELMIN group at Applied Materials Science. In the CEM4MAT centre, the ELMIN group offers competence in the following techniques: EELS, EMCD, EDS, imaging and Spectroscopic TEM 3D tomography, soft materials TEM, FIB-TEM cryo preparation, FIB TEM lamella preparation for soft matter analysis, In-situ TEM, phase contrast HRTEM imaging and simulation, image analysis, cryo-TEM on soft matter.

The facility is open access and the users can choose between several access models, where either the users operate the EMs themselves or they will obtain help from an operator or they work in collaboration with the ELMIN group. The state-of-the-art laboratory contains 3 TEMs, 4 SEMs and 1 FIB. The aberration corrected TEM, a FEI-Titan, 200kV, performs in STEM mode at 0.8Å resolution and has proven to deliver in our laboratory atomic resolution chemical analysis using its bright gun and a high spatial angle EDX detector. It can operate Lorentz TEM in DPC mode.

Two of the senior members of the Uppsala team are described below:
Professor Klaus Leifer has studied physics at RWTH-Aachen/D and obtained his PhD from EFPL Lausanne/CH. He analysed thin film and nano-systems using and developing various TEM techniques such as diffraction, HRTEM, EELS and EDS. In his post-doctoral and staff employment in the physics department at EPFL, Klaus has analysed interconnected semiconductor quantum systems using quantitative EELS, dark-field simulations, EDX and a custom built cathodoluminescence system to understand segregation, confinement and charge transport in those systems. At Uppsala University, Klaus headed the division of Electron Microscopy and Nano-Engineering and later the group with the same name. He has built several TEM, SEM and FIB techniques to analyse magnetic materials, hard coatings, energy materials, biological and soft matter materials. Dedicated techniques from this period are EMCD, cryo-TEM-FIB lift-out and TEM tomography. The ELMIN group is equally working on Nano-Engineering topics of down to single molecule electronics, graphene mechanics, electronic structure, functionalisation and sensors.

Professor Håkan Engqvist, expertise in analysis and imaging of intact interfaces between tissue and biomaterials for hard tissue replacements. FIB – TEM sample preparation and connected analysis in TEM. Especially tomography and STEM imaging of the interfaces.

Further information

SWERIM

SWERIM performs applied materials research for the benefit of Swedish Industry. Direct funding from industry represents the largest part of research funding. National and International programmes are also important and within such programmes and projects cooperation with universities both in Sweden and in Europe are common. EM is important in materials research and Swerim has a long tradition in TEM and SEM and the micro analysis techniques that belongs to these instruments; diffraction, EELS, EDS, WDS, EBSD.