UiO
At UiO two different research group participates in EXCITE, namely, the Department of Biomaterials and the Department of Geosciences. These departments provide access to their dedicated X-ray imaging and Scanning Electron Microscopy facilities.
Facilities
IKO-CT
X-ray imaging at UiO has had a focus on material applications. It includes a multidisciplinary team of scientists working in close collaboration with national and international partners. The unique advantages of X-ray imaging reside in the combination of high-resolution, the penetrating ability to look inside materials even through complex sample environments. Technically, a range of different contrast mechanisms can be employed (diffraction, scattering, and absorption) where the spatial resolution may reach a few nanometres. IKO-CT provides access to two dedicated high-resolution micro- and nano-CT scanners.
GEO-SEM
The Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) at the Department of Geosciences is a variable pressure FEG-SEM with dual EDS, high-resolution EBSD and cathodoluminescence (CL) system. The SEM is part of the Goldschmidt Laboratory, the Norwegian national infrastructure for the characterization of Earth materials. The SEM aids researchers and students, over a broad range of research fields: environmental, structural and isotope geology, sedimentology, petrology, mineralogy and mineral resources, and micropaleontology. The lab is a crucial instrument to support numerous European Research Council, Horizon 2020/Horizon Europe, and Research Council of Norway grants. High-precision geochronological data produced at the Goldschmidt Laboratory are systematically supported by accurate CL and EBSD analysis. High-angular resolution EBSD (HR-EBSD) is currently a key development area at the SEM lab.
GEO-Nanoindenter
The nano-indenter located in the Friction Lab of the Department of Geosciences, UiO, is an instrument for micromechanical testing of materials. The instrument supports research at UiO on elastic and creep properties of Earth materials and can be used also on a broad range of bio- and industrial materials.
Equipment IKO-CT
The SkyScan 2211 Multiscale XCT. It requires small samples in order to reach submicron resolution (pixel size ~300 nm). The sample size should be around 1 mm in diameter and composed of low density materials. Resolution 900 nm in voxel. For high energies (70 kV > Energy > 160 kV), large samples can be scanned (up to 15 cm in diameter, and 20 cm high, depending on the composition of the sample. Pixel size can span from 8 um to 50 um.
The SkyScan 1172 microCT has an X-ray source of 30-100kV, 4-10 W, CCD detector 4kx4kx3k pixels. Pixel size: 0.9 μm to 25 μm; Resolution 3 μm in voxel can be reached, depending on the sample.
Equipment GEO-SEM
Hitachi SU5000 FEG-SEM including low-vacuum mode, equipped with a Field Emission Gun. Dual Bruker Quantax Xflash 30 EDS system, Bruker e-Flash high resolution EBSD system with Argus, software CrossCourt4 Rapide for high-angular resolution EBSD (HR-EBSD), Delmic Sparc cathodoluminescence system with hyperspectral analysis.
Equipment nano-indenter
The nano-indenter is a KLA G200X instrument. It was purchased in 2021 and is equipped with a microscope, a high-precision movement stage, and two actuators that can be used to apply force up to 500 mN and in continuous stiffness mode (CSM) that is able to report hardness and modulus as a function of depth.
Techniques
X-ray imaging at UiO has had a focus on materials application. It includes a multidisciplinary team of scientists working in close collaboration with national and international partners. The unique advantages of X-ray imaging reside in the combination of high-resolution, the penetrating ability to look inside materials even through complex sample environments. Technically, a range of different contrast mechanisms can be employed (diffraction, scattering and absorption) where the spatial resolution may reach a few nanometres.
Scanning electron microscopy at Geosciences UiO has a focus on the links between mineral reactions, fluid flow, and deformation processes in Earth materials by integrating SEM imaging with EDS, CL and high resolution EBSD analysis. The group combines SEM work with EMPA analysis of mineral chemistry, TEM, and X-ray micro- and nano-tomography in collaboration with national and international partners to shed light on the fundamental control exerted by grain-scale processes on tectonic plate dynamics and on fluid flow in the lithosphere, and on the associated geohazard and geo-resources.
The G200X instrument quickly delivers accurate, quantitative results of nano-mechanical testing of materials. It can be used for hardness, modulus, fracture toughness, and other property measurements, high-speed material property maps, as well as for creep tests and stress-strain analysis.
Processing and data acquisition software
IKO-CT: Bruker (CTAn, Dataviewer, CTVox, Nrecon), Dragonfly, Avizo 3D Pro – Availability via VDI Vitual Machine
GEO-SEM: Bruker Esprit 2.3, CrossCourt4 Rapide (HR-EBSD), Odemis (CL)
Nano-indenter: InView software from KLA. Data can be exported and processed with Microsoft Excel and MatLab.
Sample preparation
IKO-CT: At IKO-CT a laboratory for basic sample preparation (e.g. dehydration, staining, embedding) is available.
GEO-SEM: GEO-SEM provides access to a Cressington 208C carbon coater, Qpol Vibro vibratory polishing machine for EBSD samples.
Nano-indenter: Samples must be polished by the users (EBSD quality) before testing.
Science team
Prof. Dr. Luca Menegon (Facility manager)
Prof. Dr. Håvård J. Haugen (Odontology)
Dr. Liebert P. Nogueira (Odontology)
Dr. Kristina Dunkel (Geosciences)
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.
