\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tArticle Content<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a new machine in town, and it\u2019s in high demand by researchers at University of California San Diego labs and in local industry.<\/p>\n
Housed in the university\u2019s Qualcomm Institute (QI) Nano3 shared research facility, the instrument \u2014 an x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) machine \u2014 is helping researchers advance projects ranging from battery research to the development of surface coatings and medical devices.<\/p>\n
Flying Electrons<\/p>\n
Fabian Martinez Pallares, a 2024 materials science and engineering Ph.D. alumnus from UC San Diego\u2019s Jacobs School of Engineering, arrived at Nano3 last November, shortly after the PHI Genesis XPS system, to serve as the lead specialist responsible for XPS operation and training.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe XPS system lets us analyze the chemical composition and bonding states of the top few nanometers of a material surface,\u201d he said. \u201cThis gives Nano3 users a way to understand not only what elements are present, but also how they are chemically bonded.\u201d<\/p>\n
The machine works by firing X-rays at a material\u2019s surface, knocking loose electrons in a process called the photoelectric effect. As those electrons fly free, a detector measures their energy with extreme precision. Because every element holds onto its electrons with a unique, telltale strength, the resulting energy pattern reveals the surface\u2019s composition.<\/p>\n
Funding for the new machine was provided by the UC San Diego chancellor, executive vice chancellor, dean of engineering and dean of physical sciences.<\/p>\n
That investment fills a regional gap: \u201cOutside of our machine, the next closest XPS that is available is at UC Irvine,\u201d Pallares said.<\/p>\n
Booked a Week in Advance<\/p>\n
Even though it\u2019s a relatively new acquisition, the machine already has more than 60 users \u2014 25 UC San Diego research labs and 10 industrial partners, including researchers from General Atomics, Illumina, and Biolinq. It\u2019s now booked a week in advance.<\/p>\n
One frequent user is David Fenning, who is Francine Berman Professor in the UC San Diego Aiiso Yufeng Li Family Department of Chemical and Nano Engineering. Fenning\u2019s group is using the tool in its research on semiconductor interface chemistry, tracking how materials hold up under the real-world heat and electrical stress they\u2019ll face in devices like solar cells and LEDs. Fenning calls the XPS machine \u201ca comprehensive surface analysis system,\u201d which, combined with its scanning Auger electron spectroscopy, \u201callows outstanding determination of chemical state.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pallares said many researchers also have found the machine valuable for checking their assumptions and making important corrections.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes when researchers perform the XPS analysis, they realize something went wrong in their process,\u201d he said. \u201cFor example, XPS can reveal residual surface impurities \u2014 which can be bad news for device performance \u2014 despite cleaning processes meant to remove those impurities. If researchers know that, for example, sulfur or fluorine is present in their material, they can address the problem. They can extend the time of washing or come up with a different process.\u201d<\/p>\n
At Home in Nano3<\/p>\n
When the XPS machine first arrived on campus, there was general agreement it should be housed in QI\u2019s Nano3 facility.<\/p>\n
\u201cNano3 is the largest shared use facility in the STEM field outside of health sciences,\u201d said Yu-Hwa Lo, director of Nano3 and professor of electrical and computer engineering. \u201cBeing an interdisciplinary hub, we have experienced technical staff and established operational infrastructure to ensure that this advanced equipment is effectively maintained, broadly accessible and highly impactful.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a whole, Nano3 has about 800 users, serving 128 research groups on campus, 75 companies, and 12 research institutions from across the country.<\/p>\n
Pallares said he\u2019s glad to support researchers using the XPS machine in Nano3 \u2014 from keeping the instrument running to helping users obtain accurate data, process their results and understand what they are seeing. He encourages anyone interested to reach out for orientation and training. He can be reached at\u00a0fmm003@ucsd.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Article Content There\u2019s a new machine in town, and it\u2019s in high demand by researchers at University of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":396830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[74,76,75],"class_list":["post-396829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}