Microscopic Research

Microscopic research is one of the methods to characterise materials on microstructure, surface morphology, distribution of fases, size and distribution of, for example, particles in the material to a resolution of 5 nanometers.

ECN has the disposal of extensive facilities for microscopic research. These are used for:

• Materials characterisation
• Damage research and analyses

For this research, we have the disposal of:

• Light microscopy or optical microscopy (magnification 1 to 1500 times)
• Scanning Electronic Microscopy with energy dispersive element analysis (SEM-EDS) (magnification 20 to 250.000 times)
• Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) (resolution up to 2 nanometers, in vertical as well as horizontal direction)

Due to these facilities it is possible to examine the structure of materials and surfaces and to perform material analyses on particles as from 1 micrometer.