Facilities

TEM
SEM

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Open-Access User Facilities

UC IMRI manages and operates five staffed Open-Access User Facilities, accessible to researchers from both academic institutions and industries. Please check out the About UC IMRI page for more information. The new UC IMRI brochure is available digitally as well as in hardcopy inside each individual user facility.

Reservation and usage of all IMRI instruments are managed through the NEMO Reservation System. Please refer to the NEMO Quickstart Guide. Recharge rates are available HERE.

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Become an IMRI user today. Learn the most advanced materials characterization techniques and get to know how IMRI can help you advance your research.

IMRI is open to all researchers from academia and industries.

IMRI currently manages four labs at several locations in UCI:

  • Materials Characterization Center (MC2) @ Engineering Tower
  • Laboratory for Electron and X-ray Instrumentation (LEXI) @ Calit2 Building
  • Center for Transmission Electron Microscopy (CTEM) @ Engineering Hall
  • TEMPR Lab @ Calit2 Building

Instruments within IMRI facilities are categorized into five application areas:

Transmission Electron Microscopy

A transmission electron microscope (TEM) uses a high energy (30 keV-3 meV parallel or focused) electron beam to interact with very thin (a few nm- 200nm) specimens and collect transmitted primary electrons to form an image or electron diffraction pattern, which may reveal materials morphology and internal structure down to an atomic scale.  Combined with EDS and EELS spectrometers, TEM/STEM may be used to obtain info about the chemical composition and electronic states of materials. A TEM/STM can be further used as a micro-lab for in-situ observation of materials under different environmental (heating, cooling, biasing, gas, liquid, etc.) and mechanical conditions with suitable specimen holders.

TEM is in CTEM on the first floor (rooms from 1121 to 1151) of Engineering Hall (UCI campus building 308) and MC2 on the first floor of Engineering Tower (UCI campus building 303). Learn More…

Scanning Electron Microscopy

A scanning electron microscope uses a focused electron beam with an energy of 100 eV to 30 keV to interact with a sample surface, and different electron detectors to collect second electrons (SEs) and back-scattered electrons (BSEs). The images formed by SEs and BSEs may show sample surface morphology and composition information down to the sub-nm scale. Equipped with an EDS system, an SEM may show sample composition.  With a focus ion beam (FIB) attachment, a dual beam system can generate a sample cross-section to show morphology and composition beneath the sample surface. A SEM could be equipped with other attachments such as a gas injection system for surface protection or etching enhancement, an OMNI probe for in situ lift-out for TEM specimen preparation, and a lithography system for e-beam lithography. An SEM can use different (heating, cooling, mechanical testing, probing, etc.) stages for in situ experiments. A specially designed SEM could be used not only for high vacuum work but also for low vacuum and environmental observations.

SEM is located in CTEM on the 1st floor (rooms from 1121 to 1151) of Engineering Hall (UCI campus building 308), LEXI on the 1st floor (rooms 1302 and 1301) of the Calit2 building (UCI campus building 325), and MC2 on the first floor of Engineering Tower (UCI campus building 303). Learn More…

X-ray Analysis

X-ray Analysis provides state-of-the-art X-ray diffractometers for non-destructively characterizing structural properties of materials. A broad range of materials can be measured, including metals, semiconductors, and insulators in the form of powder, bulk, thin films, and liquid solutions. The facility contains two multiple-purpose X-ray diffractometers.

X-ray instruments are in LEXI on the first floor (rooms 1302 and 1301) of the Calit2 building (UCI campus building 325). Learn More…

Surface Analysis

The Surface Science Facility houses a cluster of instruments for non-destructive characterizations of spectroscopic and structural properties of surfaces and interfaces of materials and devices.

  • The Kratos AXIS-Supra is a high-performance multi-technique instrument providing a broad combination of surface-sensitive spectroscopic and microscopic characterization methods under Ultra-High Vacuum (UHV): high-sensitivity X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and microscopy (XPS and XPS imaging), high-resolution scanning field emission Auger spectroscopy and microscopy (SEM, SAM, AES), ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS), and ion scattering spectroscopy (ISS).
  • The Polytec Micro System Analyzer (MSA-500) is used for ambient non-contact and non-destructive measurement of three-dimensional movements in microsystems and devices. Out-of-plane movement is measured using the Polytec Microscope Scanning Vibrometer (PSV), in-plane movement with the Planar Motion Analyzer (PMA), and 3D topography measurements are performed with the Topography Measurement System (TMS) to acquire the surface geometry of rough and reflective structures.

Surface Science Facility (SSF) is located on the first floor (rooms 1322 and 1302) of the Calit2 Building (UCI campus building 325). Learn More…

TEMPR Facility

TEMPR Facility houses a broad scope of instrumentation for characterizing bulk, thin-film, chemical, composite, and biological materials with respect to their Thermal (T), Elemental (E), Mechanical (M), Physical (P), and Rheological (R) properties.

TEMPR Lab is located on the second floor (room 2423) of the Calit2 Building (UCI campus building 325). Keycard access is required at all times. Learn More…