Soft Skills Seminar: Surface Analysis and Fabrication Platform: techniques and possibilities at CICbiomaGUNE

Surface behavior of materials is of critical importance in our life and hence in research. Surface can be defined according to three systems: i) the outermost atomic layer at the interface with other phases; ii) the 2-10 topmost atomic layers; iii) thin films in the range of 10-100nm. In the Surface Analysis and Fabrication Platform we have several equipments that allow from thin film preparation to the study of both the interface and the first 2-10 atomic layers of a material. Namely, they are Magnetron Sputtering, X-Ray Photoelectron Spectrophotometer (XPS) and Atomic Force Microscopes (AFM). The Magnetron Sputtering is used for thin films deposition while controlling atomic composition and thickness. The XPS is employed in the characterization of the first atomic layers up to about 10nm in depth. Atomic composition and the atoms chemical state can be investigated. AFM is used to get the topographical images of surfaces exploiting interaction forces between the surface’s atoms and a sharp probe. Basic principles of the techniques and some applications will be described with particular focus on what can be done in CICbiomaGUNE