Surface Analysis

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

Contribution of the course to the program objectives

LO : 1.1, 2.1, 2.3, 5.5

Specific learning outcomes of the course

a. Disciplinary Learning Outcomes:

Electron and ionic spectroscopies:

At the end of the course, the student will be able to

• understand and explain the physical (or physico-chemical) mechanisms underlying the considered spectroscopic and spectrometric methods.  These methods include electron spectroscopies (LEED-RHEED, AES, XPS-ESCA) as well as ionic spectroscopies (ISS, RBS) and mass spectrometries (SIMS, LDIMS, MALDI);
• discuss the specifics of each method, compare the information they allow to obtain and their fields of application;
• explain the principle scheme of the different instruments and describe their main components (ex. ion gun, electrostatic analyzer, multichannel detector);
• identify the performance, the limitations (ex. sensitivity, quantification) as well as the possible artifacts related to the different analysis methods, be critical of the data interpretation;
• provide examples of applications of the analytical techniques in the context of surface treatment and processing (ex. PVD, plasma treatments, thin layer deposition);  
• select an appropriate method for the structural or chemical analysis of an unknown solid sample;
• justify the choice of method(s) to answer a problem in materials characterization (such as those encountered in the industrial context).

Scanning probe microscopies (SPM):

At the end of the course, the student will be able to

• identify and explain the physical, chemical and physico-chemical phenomenons at the basis of the functioning of scanning probe microscopies (STM, AFM, C-AFM, LFM, FMM, AM-AFM, FM-AFM, MFM, EFM, PFM, KPFM, ¿);
• describe the instrumentation and explain the functioning of these microscopies;
• compare them regarding the physical, chemical or physico-chemical properties they allow to measure and map;
• make and justify the choice of the adequate technique to characterize a specific property of a given material;
• explain the artifacts that may bias this type of analysis and to criticize results obtained with one of those techniques on this basis.

b. Transversal Learning Outcomes:

At the end of the course, the student will be able to:

• critically discuss the experimental results with experts in the considered domains;
• write a concise lab experiment report, structured and adequately illustrated, describing the technical aspects of the experiments, from the sample preparation protocol to the obtained results, in a precise scientific language.