Ernst Ruska-Centre
Encyclopedia
The Ernst Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons is a German research establishment conjointly operated by the Jülich Research Centre and RWTH Aachen University on a pari passu basis. The facility, which also offers user services to external research groups, is located on the campus of Research Centre Jülich belonging to the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres.
The ER-C's main purposes are fundamental research in high-resolution transmission electron microscopy method development as well as respective applications coming along with topical problems in solid state research
. For theses purposes the ER-C runs several state-of-the-art electron microscope
s and develops customed software solutions to be used for e.g. for the exit wave retrieval purposes or the measurement of higher-order lens aberrations.
The ER-C was founded in Aachen on 27 January 2004 by means of a contract signed by the chairman of Forschungszentrum Jülich Joachim Treusch and RWTH Aachen University's rector Burkhard Rauhut. The centre was inaugurated on 18 May 2006 in presence of members of the Ernst Ruska
family as well as representatives of the international electron microscopy community.
and JEOL Ltd.
ranging from standard scanning electron microscopes to two highly specialised Titan 80-300 transmission electron microscopes equipped with aberration correction units and offering an information limit of 80 picometres. The majority of ER-C instrumental resources is available for use by both in-house and external users.
On 12 December 2008 the ER-C and FEI Company
announced that a next generation electron microscope with a record resolution of 50 picometres will be made available to a broad user community from 2010. The instrument known as PICO will see details measuring only a fraction of an atomic diameter and thus at the absolute limits of optical systems. This will enable atomic structures for materials in energy research and microelectronics to be investigated more precisely than has ever been possible before. On 4 November 2009 work began on an extension to the ER-C to house the PICO microscope with a groundbreaking ceremony.
together with the precise control of higher order lens aberrations are in use globally in a continuously increasing number of electron microscopy laboratories.
Present in-house materials science research projects focus on the investigation of the epitaxial growth mechanisms
and the relaxation behaviour of nanostructured material combinations
by software-based methods of transmission electron microscopy. Relevant research projects comprise high-precision measurements of atomic spacings down to a few picometres, the identification of novel relaxation mechanisms together with the quantification of individual contributions towards the reduction of elastic stresses in lattice strained heterostructures, the quantification of interdiffusion related parameters in multilayer systems on the atomic scale as well as the measurement of dopant induced electrical fields by means of electron holography
techniques. Material classes investigated include nanostructured electroceramics
, complex metallic alloys
, semiconductor materials
and oxide superconductors
together with lattice defects by advanced techniques electron microscopy.
The ER-C's main purposes are fundamental research in high-resolution transmission electron microscopy method development as well as respective applications coming along with topical problems in solid state research
Solid-state physics
Solid-state physics is the study of rigid matter, or solids, through methods such as quantum mechanics, crystallography, electromagnetism, and metallurgy. It is the largest branch of condensed matter physics. Solid-state physics studies how the large-scale properties of solid materials result from...
. For theses purposes the ER-C runs several state-of-the-art electron microscope
Electron microscope
An electron microscope is a type of microscope that uses a beam of electrons to illuminate the specimen and produce a magnified image. Electron microscopes have a greater resolving power than a light-powered optical microscope, because electrons have wavelengths about 100,000 times shorter than...
s and develops customed software solutions to be used for e.g. for the exit wave retrieval purposes or the measurement of higher-order lens aberrations.
The ER-C was founded in Aachen on 27 January 2004 by means of a contract signed by the chairman of Forschungszentrum Jülich Joachim Treusch and RWTH Aachen University's rector Burkhard Rauhut. The centre was inaugurated on 18 May 2006 in presence of members of the Ernst Ruska
Ernst Ruska
Ernst August Friedrich Ruska was a German physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986 for his work in electron optics, including the design of the first electron microscope.Ruska was born in Heidelberg...
family as well as representatives of the international electron microscopy community.
Instrumental Resources
The ER-C presently houses 10 electron microscopes manufactured by FEI CompanyFEI Company
FEI Company , founded in 1971, is an American supplier of electron microscopy tools to researchers, developers and manufacturers working on the nanoscale. Headquartered in Hillsboro, Oregon, the company employs 1,770 people worldwide....
and JEOL Ltd.
JEOL
is a manufacturer of electron microscopes and other scientific instruments. Its headquarters are in Tokyo, Japan, with 25 subsidiaries and two associated companies....
ranging from standard scanning electron microscopes to two highly specialised Titan 80-300 transmission electron microscopes equipped with aberration correction units and offering an information limit of 80 picometres. The majority of ER-C instrumental resources is available for use by both in-house and external users.
On 12 December 2008 the ER-C and FEI Company
FEI Company
FEI Company , founded in 1971, is an American supplier of electron microscopy tools to researchers, developers and manufacturers working on the nanoscale. Headquartered in Hillsboro, Oregon, the company employs 1,770 people worldwide....
announced that a next generation electron microscope with a record resolution of 50 picometres will be made available to a broad user community from 2010. The instrument known as PICO will see details measuring only a fraction of an atomic diameter and thus at the absolute limits of optical systems. This will enable atomic structures for materials in energy research and microelectronics to be investigated more precisely than has ever been possible before. On 4 November 2009 work began on an extension to the ER-C to house the PICO microscope with a groundbreaking ceremony.
Research Programmes
Focal points of inherent ER-C research programmes cover the scrutineering of, both, the theoretical and the applied aspects of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, which in turn represents the most important analysis methods at the centre. Numerical software packages largely developed by ER-C scientists and allowing for the retrieval of the exit plane wavefunctionWavefunction
Not to be confused with the related concept of the Wave equationA wave function or wavefunction is a probability amplitude in quantum mechanics describing the quantum state of a particle and how it behaves. Typically, its values are complex numbers and, for a single particle, it is a function of...
together with the precise control of higher order lens aberrations are in use globally in a continuously increasing number of electron microscopy laboratories.
Present in-house materials science research projects focus on the investigation of the epitaxial growth mechanisms
Stranski-Krastanov growth
Stranski–Krastanov growth is one of the three primary modes by which thin films grow epitaxially at a crystal surface or interface...
and the relaxation behaviour of nanostructured material combinations
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...
by software-based methods of transmission electron microscopy. Relevant research projects comprise high-precision measurements of atomic spacings down to a few picometres, the identification of novel relaxation mechanisms together with the quantification of individual contributions towards the reduction of elastic stresses in lattice strained heterostructures, the quantification of interdiffusion related parameters in multilayer systems on the atomic scale as well as the measurement of dopant induced electrical fields by means of electron holography
Electron holography
Electron holography is holography with electron waves. Dennis Gabor invented holography in 1948 when he tried to improve resolution in electron microscope. The first attempts to perform holography with electron waves were made by Haine and Muley in 1952; they demonstrated recorded with 60keV...
techniques. Material classes investigated include nanostructured electroceramics
Electroceramics
Electroceramics is a class of ceramic materials used primarily for their electrical properties.While ceramics have traditionally been admired and used for their mechanical, thermal and chemical stability, their unique electrical, optical and magnetic properties have become of increasing importance...
, complex metallic alloys
Complex metallic alloys
Complex metallic alloys are intermetallic compounds characterized by the following structural features:#large unit cells, comprising some tens up to thousands of atoms,...
, semiconductor materials
Semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity due to electron flow intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. This means a conductivity roughly in the range of 103 to 10−8 siemens per centimeter...
and oxide superconductors
High-temperature superconductivity
High-temperature superconductors are materials that have a superconducting transition temperature above . From 1960 to 1980, 30 K was thought to be the highest theoretically possible Tc...
together with lattice defects by advanced techniques electron microscopy.