Introduction - Atomic Nanoscale Technology in the Nuclear Industry - page 7

the.material..The.secondary.ions.are.ejected.as.a.small.percentage..
Information. on. the. sample. composition. is. obtained. by. the. collec-
tion.of.these.sputtered.secondary.ions,.and.their.analysis.by.mass-
to-charge.spectrometry.gives.information.on.the.composition.of.the.
sample..This.is.done.by.the.locally.destructive.technique.of.analyz-
ing.material.removed.from.the.sample.by.sputtering.
•. AES. (Auger. Electron. Spectroscopy):. The. sample. is. irradiated. by. a.
primary. electron. beam. with. an. energy. range. of. 2. to. 10. keV.. This.
results.in.the.emission.of.Auger.electrons.that.can.be.detected.and.
analyzed..Auger.point.analysis.and.scanning.analysis.can.be.done.
with.a.spatial.resolution.down.to.250.nm.
•. X-ray.photoelectron.spectroscopy.(XPS):.XPS.is.a.quantitative.spec-
troscopic.technique.that.measures.the.elemental.composition,.empir-
ical.formula,.chemical.state,.and.electronic.state.of.the.elements.that.
exist.within.a.material..The.kinetic.energy.and.number.of.electrons.
that. escape. from. the. top. 1. to. 10. nm. of. the. material. by. irradiating.
x-ray.beam.are.shown.as.the.XPS.spectra..Ultrahigh.vacuum.(UHV).
conditions.are.necessary.
•. Atomic.force.microscopy.(AFM):.This.is.a.very.high-resolution.type.
of.scanning.probe.microscopy,.with.demonstrated.resolution.on.the.
order.of.fractions.of.a.nanometer,.more.than.1,000.times.better.than.
the. optical. diffraction. limit.. The. precursor. to. the. AFM. was. devel-
oped.by.Gerd.Binnig.and.Heinrich.Rohrer.in.the.early.1980s.at.IBM.
Research-Zurich,. a. development. that. earned. them. the. Nobel. Prize.
for. Physics. in. 1986.. The. irst. commercial. AFM. was. developed. in.
1989..This.is.one.of.the.foremost.tools.for.imaging,.measuring,.and.
manipulating.matter.at.the.nanoscale..The.information.is.collected.
by.“feeling”.the.surface.with.a.mechanical.probe..Piezoelectric.ele-
ments. facilitate. tiny,. but. accurate. and. precise. movements. on. (elec-
tronic).command,.enabling.very.precise.scanning..Electric.potentials.
can.also.be.scanned.using.conducting.cantilevers.in.some.variations..
The.currents.can.even.be.passed.through.the.tip.to.probe.the.elec-
trical. conductivity.or. transport.of. the.underlying. surface. in. newer.
more.advanced.versions,.but.this.is.much.more.challenging.and.few.
groups.have.reported.reliable.data.
•. Scanning. tunneling. microscope. (STM):. This. is. an. instrument.
for. imaging. surfaces. at. the. atomic. level.. In. 1981,. the. newer. more.
advanced.versions.were.made.by.Gerd.Binnig.and.Heinrich.Rohrer.
(at. IBM. Zürich),. who. received. the. Nobel. Prize. in. Physics. in. 1986..
Good. STM. resolution. is. considered. to. be. 0.1 nm. lateral. resolution.
and.0.01 nm.depth.resolution..Usually,.STM.can.be.used.not.only.in.
ultrahigh.vacuum.but.also.in.air,.water,.and.various.other.liquid.or.
gas.ambients,.and.at.temperatures.ranging.from.near.zero.kelvin.to.
a.few.hundred.degrees.Celsius.