UPPA
The University of Pau and Pays de l’Adour (UPPA) is a multidisciplinary university. UPPA is offering an ISO 9001-certified laboratory, supporting research in geosciences, material science and engineering.
Facilities
DMEX Centre for
X-ray Imaging
The DMEX Centre for X-ray Imaging at UPPA hosts three X-ray tomographs, enabling to cover a large panel of spatial resolutions (from 450nm to 450µm), sample sizes (from sub-mm up to m), contrast modalities (adsorption contrast, phase contrast, hyperspectral imaging), and acquisition speeds (up to one tomogram in 10s). While samples can be tested under ambient conditions, the center has built up a unique competence in conducting in situ and in operando testing. Think about tension/compression, reactive flow, heating/cooling, or even electrochemical cycling. Besides solids, one can also study emulsions, foams and other types of non-consolidated materials such as sand packs. The facility is equipped to assist with sample preparation, data analysis and interpretation. Together, these instruments provide all necessities for 4D non-invasive morphological and compositional analysis at the micron-scale.
Equipment DMEX
The Zeiss Xradia Versa 510 targets sub-micron imaging. It offers voxel sizes ranging between ~250nm and ~40μm (unbinned data) on respectively millimeter to centimeter-sized samples. The system is equipped with a 4Mpx CCD detector. An in-situ stage enables to perform in situ analyses. Test cell to be provided by the user.
The Tescan UniTOM XL Spectral is a versatile system. It can handle a wide range of sample sizes (up to a meter in length) and can flexibly trade-off spatial and temporal resolution thanks to a 300W source and an 8Mpx flat panel detector. An in-situ stage enables in situ/in operando experiments. Test cell to be provided by the user. The system also features a spectral line detector with up to 128 channels enabling non-destructive 3D chemical differentiation.
The Tescan DynaTOM targets dynamic tests or the analysis of non-consolidated samples. The system is equipped with a 3Mpx flat panel detector and an X-ray source, mounted onto a horizontal gantry. The samples remain static during the analysis. The system offers voxel sizes ranging between ~1 and 150μm (unbinned data) on millimeter to decimeter-sized samples. Designed to perform in situ/in operando analyses. Test cell to be provided by the user.
Techniques
While X-ray scanners can be used to analyse virtually any material, DMEX has particular expertise in the characterisation of multi-phase flow inside (geo-)materials, and in multi-modal characterization studies (i.e. combining data from multiple measurement techniques). Generally speaking, the facility can perform acquisition, visualisation, and characterisation of the microstructure of materials of mineral, biological, and synthetic origin. Both the sample morphology and its composition can be quantified, and their evolution can be monitored over time.
DMEX provides dedicated hard and software to manipulate datasets of tens to hundreds of Gb and to extract, quantify and visualize features of interest. Data analysis relies on a purpose-built multi-user calculation server with 768Gb memory and four Titan RTX GPU cards. Short and long-term data storage is guaranteed using an 180Tb RAID5 server, mirrored to an off-site location for additional protection against data loss. Together, these instruments provide all necessities for 4D non-destructive morphological and compositional analysis at the micron-scale
Sample preparation
Besides state-of-the-art X-ray tomographs, the facility can assist with sample preparation. We dispose of an on-site workshop equipped with precision drills (diameter ranging from ~1 to 40 mm) and a diamond wire saw to core and cut samples, as well as an oven to dry them. The facility also disposes of a chemical lab, equipped with hood, safety storage cabinet and analytical balances to prepare the solutions used during the test.
Processing and data acquisition
The facility provides dedicated hard and software to manipulate datasets of tens to hundreds of Gb and to extract, quantify and visualize features of interest. Available software includes ORS Dragonfly and Fiji, as well as Matlab, SPAM and python. We also support automated documentation of datasets and assist with data publication.
Curious to learn more?
Interested in gaining access to the EXCITE2 facilities? Please enter your email address and be one of the first to be informed when we open the first EXCITE2 call for proposals. Other questions? Contact us here.
