Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES)

MSC N-002

Auger electrons emitted from the surface are drawn into a spectrometer that ultimately measures their kinetic energy distribution. The technique is inherently surface sensitive because the Auger electrons typically have low kinetic energies (<3kv). The Auger spectra contain information about the concentration and (sometimes) the chemical environment of surface and near-surface atoms. Greater depths (up to a few microns) can be probed by coupling the technique with ion milling. Lateral distributions of elements can be measured with sub-micron resolution.

AFM: Atomic Force Microscopy

MSC N-009

An Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) provides 3-dimensional topographic information about a sample by probing its surface structure with a very sharp tip. The tip is scanned laterally across the surface, and the vertical movements of the tip are recorded and used to construct a quantitative 3-dimensional topographic map. The lateral resolution of the image can be as small as the tip radius (typically 5-15 nm), and the vertical resolution can be on the order of angstroms.

Raj Kothapalli

Sri-Rajasekhar (Raj) Kothapalli

Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering

(e) szk416@psu.edu
(o) 814-865-0459
219 Hallowell Bldg

https://sites.psu.edu/biophotonicsandultrasoundimaginglab/
Sawyer Campbell

Sawyer Campbell

Associate Professor

(e) sdc22@psu.edu
(o) 814-865-2212
327 Electrical Engineering East

90 Pollock Road

A New, Nanoscale, 3D Structure To Control Light

image of the 3D structure

By Gabrielle Stewart

Metamaterials, made up of small, repeated structures engineered to produce desired interactions with light or sound waves, can improve optical devices used in telecommunications, imaging and more. But the functionality of the devices can be limited by the corresponding design space, according to Lei Kang, assistant research professor of electrical engineering at Penn State.

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