Study of contamination, foreign bodies and pollution (dust, particles, surface defects, etc.)

Definition/objectives:

Materia Nova has equipment for analysing contaminants down to micron size. Analyses can be carried out on the surface or at depth (profiles, chemical mapping, FIB, etc.).
The pollutants can be precisely characterised: elemental nature, molecular analyses, morphology, etc.

Performance measurement (standards and equipment tests)

- Energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX), combined with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), provides a fast and efficient tool for characterising particles and defects down to a few tenths of a nanometre. In addition, the analysis can identify the presence of chemical elements from boron on any type of sample: metallic, mineral or organic.

-Infrared and Raman microscopy are powerful tools for identifying the nature of both organic and inorganic components.

X-ray photoelectron spectrometry (XPS) is used for semi-quantitative elemental analysis. The oxidation state of the material can also be determined using this technique.

-Comparisons with references can be made to identify particles.