Atom Probe Tomograph

• Subject Area: Materials Science
• Term: Funded in 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 524274479

The aim of this application is to substantially strengthen green energy research at the University of Freiburg by implementation of a new pole of competence. It is intended to install an atom probe tomography instrument (APT) and a focus-ion-beam/scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM) system. The University of Freiburg ranks ninth among German universities in terms of the acquisition of third-party funding from the German Research Foundation, but APT is not available yet, which hampers research in many fields of science. ‘Correlative Microscopy’ will be set up by combining FIB-SEM and APT with the APT as the main instrument. The main use of Correlative Microscopy will be the research on energy devices such as solar cells and batteries. Cross-scale correlative microscopy will make significant contributions to understanding physical phenomena (interdiffusion, segregation, precipitation, and phase formation in the bulk and at internal interfaces) down to the atomic level. This is critical to further improve the efficiency of solar cells and batteries. Other areas of application will include perovskites, multi-material-joints like welded aluminum-steel or aluminum-titanium compounds, semiconductor heterostructure devices, and quantum materials (quantum bits for quantum computers) in collaboration with other groups at the University of Freiburg and Fraunhofer Institutes.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Atomsondentomographiegerät
• Instrumentation Group: 5130 Sonstige spezielle Elektronenmikroskope
• Applicant Institution: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
• Leader: Professorin Oana Cojocaru-Mirédin, Ph.D.