Characterisation of materials and structures by means of scanning electron microscopy and EDX, EBSD as well as STEM analytics

• Subject Area: Mechanical Properties of Metallic Materials and their Microstructural Origins
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 514139564

In the framework of this project, a high-resolution scanning electron microscope with EDX, EBSD and STEM detectors is used. This system has a combined electrostatic-magnetic objective, which allows very high magnifications at low acceleration voltages and field-free operation. This allows the characterisation of a wide range of materials, including steels, electrochemically deposited alloys, polymers, composites and even biological cells. These materials are of great interest for applied research in the fields of mechanical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering as well as life sciences and are thus also of central importance for future research activities at the University of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern. The characterisation of materials by means of scanning electron microscopy and corresponding analytical systems also offers ideal approaches for the interdisciplinary linking of research fields from the various disciplines, since on the one hand synergies and analogies can be found here (e.g. bionic structures), and on the other hand cross-thematic issues can also be addressed. For example, this will enable modelling of damage processes in steels and deriving parameters for a fatigue life calculation from this. In specific terms, this is about linking the material response with the material mechanisms that take place. In a similar context, it is about the quantification of process chains in the subtractive machining of steels. In addition, electrochemically deposited hard and soft magnetic nanocrystalline materials are to be characterised with regard to their properties, which will open up new fields of application for this established but not yet widely used technology in the future. In addition, various synthetically produced nanomaterials such as graphene and MoS2 will be investigated for use in nanoelectronics and biosensorics. In the range of biosensorics, the analysis of these materials after chemical modification and coating with biological molecules and cells is also planned. Since a comparable facility does not currently exist at the university, this will significantly increase the potential of the research-active professors.

• DFG Programme: Major Instrumentation Initiatives
• Major Instrumentation: Ionenpoliersystem ; REM EDX, EBSD, STEM
• Instrumentation Group: 4640 Schleif- und Poliermaschinen (für Labors) ; 5120 Rasterelektronenmikroskope (REM)
• Applicant Institution: Hochschule Kaiserslautern
• Leader: Professor Dr.-Ing. Peter Starke