AMRI Facilities and Resources Facilities

     The AMRI research laboratories are located in the Science Building at the University of New Orleans, where it occupies more than 8,000 square feet of laboratory and office space, and has available an inventory of more than $5.0 million of specialized materials research instrumentation to carry out its research programs.

     The majority of our research is conducted at our AMRI facilities by scientists and post-doctoral researchers who are developing and working on their research programs. Some components of the research are conducted in the laboratories of the participating universities, who are part a research consortium established by AMRI through its research projects.

Instrumentation currently in place and available to AMRI researchers include:

• MPMS-5S SQUID Susceptometer from Quantum Design, with 5.5Tesla magnet, 1.7-400K measurement range, and AC and DC capabilities. This instrument is used to characterize magnetic materials and for measuring magnetic properties of new materials. (C. O’Connor, SC 2025)
• Physical Properties Measurement System (PPMS) from Quantum Design, with 9 Tesla magnet and 1.9-350K measurement range. This instrument is used to characterize new materials and for measuring the physical properties of new materials.
• Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), JEOL Model 5410, XL20 SEM with W and ODP resolution 3.5 nm at 30 kV, 20 nm at 1 kV. The JSM-5410 scanning electron microscope is a high-performance multipurpose SEM with a high-resolution of 3.5nm, and EDS (energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer). Its automated features include Auto Focus/Auto Stigmator, and Automatic Contrast and Brightness. The EDS makes the JSM-5410 expandable from morphological observation to multi-purpose high-resolution elemental analysis.
• Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), JEOL Model 2010, Supertwin TEM, with point-to-point resolution of 0.23 nm, line resolution of 0.14nm. The JEOL-2010 transmission electron microscope is a multipurpose high-resolution analytical electron microscope with a wide range of capabilities such as high-resolution image observation with 0.25 nm point resolution and 0.14 lattice image, EDS (Energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry) for microarea X-ray analysis, and versatile analysis by convergent-beam electron diffraction. The magnification goes from x 1,500 to 1,200,000.
• EDX for TEM: from EDAX, DXPRIME system 30 for TEM x-ray microanalysis system.
• Liquid nitrogen cooled double tilt holder (Gatan).  Applications of the cooled TEM specimen holder include the suppression of beam damage in polymers and metastable ionic compounds and the suppression of thermal diffuse scattering in CBED patterns to enhance the visibility of HOLZ lines.  ( Heike Gabrisch , SC 2043)
• Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM), Model LEO 1530VP, variable pressure FESEM, with EDS Microanalysis System (EDAX Phoenix ).
• Micrograph Processing Equipment, including a FUJIMOTO 450M-C 4x5" Enlarger equipped with two kinds of enlarge lens (50mm, 150mm) which is able to enlarge TEM and SEM negatives up to 22.2x., and a DEVAPPA 16" Dryer which is able to dry up to 16" wide print paper.
• Gatan 691 PIPSTM Precision Ion Polishing System, which is a completely self-contained, compact, bench-top precision ion polishing system designed to produce high quality TEM specimen having exceptionally large, clean, electron transparent areas. Ion polishing is done by two variable-angle, miniature Penning ion guns. The operating angle of each gun (± 10° ) is independent of one another and both have the ability to accurately center the beam onto the specimen at any angle within this range. The PIGs have powerful rare-earth magnets and are capable of very high thinning rates. Each gun is mounted in a universal joint so that x and z alignment drives can be used to center the beams onto the specimen. These features make it possible to think specimens at very low angle in a reasonably short time.
• Gatan Model 656 Dimple Grinder for TEM sample preparation, which is a precision instrument used to produce circular dimples (spherical or flat-bottomed profile) in materials such as ceramics, semiconductors, metals and combinations thereof. When specimens are mechanically dimpled prior to final thinning, the finished specimen has a more uniform thickness, has a large than usual electron-transparent area, and is very robust with a thick rim surrounding the center thin region. In the case of neutral-particle beam-thinning systems, the time required for final thinning is significantly reduced with dimpling.
• Gatan Model 601 TEM specimen cross section kit, which is used to study interfaces and surface regions in a wide range of materials. The first step in specimen preparation almost always involves protecting and building up a layer on the sample surface so that the region of interest becomes close to the center of the cross sectioned TEM specimen.
• Leica Ultramicrotome (Ultracut R) including cryo sectioning system.  The Ultracut allows slicing of specimens embedded in an epoxy resin into thin electron transparent sections.  Applications of the cryo unit include cryo sectioning of polymers, rubber, biological specimens.  (Heike Gabrisch, SC 2038)
• Denton Desk II cold sputter/etch unit and carbon evaporation accessory is designed to clean the surface of SEM specimens and to deposit heavy metal conductive coating on the clean surface. A standard 6" diameter Pyrex cylinder with top and bottom gaskets sits on an aluminum baseplate. The cylinder is evacuated by a 2 cfm, two-stage direct-drive mechanical pump mounted within the cabinet. An insulated specimen table with provision for height adjustment is mounted within the Pyrex cylinder. The sputter cathode (gold is standard) is provided to shield the sputter cathode from contamination during the etch/cleaning cycle.
• Scanning Probe Microscope (SPM) Digital Instruments model MultiMode.   The SPM provides atomic force microscopy (AFM) and magnetic force microscopy (MFM) in two modes.  The AMRI SPM also has the option for electrochemistry. The MultiMode can scan up to 200µm laterally and 10µm vertically. The scanner calibration and linearization are maintained by software control. The scanner maintains its calibration regardless of the scan size, offset, or direction. The design of the lateral range scanner consists of a “hard” piezoelectric material for the vertical movement, which minimizes the effects of nonlinearity and hysteresis while maintaining calibration throughout the full vertical range.  The MultiMode allows imaging of nanoparticles to the nanometer resolution.
• DEC Alpha Workstation for EM image simulation, processing and storage.
• Magnetron Sputtering Deposition System (Sputtered Film Co.), high vacuum deposition chamber, 1x10-7 Torr or lower with DC/RF magnetron sputtering sources and power supplies, consists of 4 research S-guns, with 3 sensors and controller for control of film thickness. Films can be deposited on up to 10 wafers (3 inch in diameter) placed on the planetary motion system to ensure high uniformity of the film thickness. The guns can work with 2 DC bias sources or an RF Generator, so deposition of both metallic and insulating materials is possible. A CryoTorr-8 (CTI-Cryogenics) cryo-pump gives a base vacuum pressure of 10-7 Torr. Two flow controllers, an automatic gate valve with controller, as well as mass spectrometer, provide precise control of the ambient gas pressure in the range from 0.1 to 100 mTorr.  A plasma source can be used during reactive sputtering. This system can deposit a large variety of materials (conducting and insulating) in the form homogeneous thin films, multilayers or granular films with thicknesses from 1 nm to hundreds of nm with deposition rates from 0.01nm/s to tens of nm/s.
• Philips X’pert-MPD X-ray powder diffraction system with a single goniometer, auto slits, high-temperature stage with air-sensitive sample capabilites, a thin film attachment with a parallel plate collimator, and extensive analytical software.
• Pulsed Laser Ablation Deposition System is being developed on the basis of a Pulsed Excimer-500 Laser (Lumonics Co.) operating at the wavelengths range from 155 to 780 nm with maximum pulse power from 1 to 200 mJ (average power 0.8-20 W) Base vacuum pressure during deposition better than 10-6 Torr is ensured by the Turbo V-550 turbomolecular pump (Varian Vacuum Products). Deposition can be made in vacuum or in the presence of reactive gases with pressures up to few Torr. In laser ablation, congruent (stoichiometric) as well as epitaxial deposition is usually more effective than in any other systems. This system can deposit a large variety of materials (conducting and insulating) in the form homogeneous thin films, multilayers or granular films with thickness from 1 nm to hundreds of nm with deposition rates from 0.01nm/s to tens of nm/s.
• Magneto-optical characterization equipment:  Oxford Instruments superconducting magnet with optical access both parallel and perpendicular to the magnetic field.  The system is capable of producing fields up to 7 T and the sample temperature can be set anywhere from 2 K to 300 K (-456°F to 80°F).  A spectroscopic light source provides monochromatic light in the spectral range from 200 nm to 1800 nm for reflection and transmission measurements.  Additionally, an Argon ion laser is available as an excitation source for photoluminescence measurements.
• Laboratory Hot Press, Thermal Technology Inc. Model HP20-4560-20, with an operating temperature of up to 2700 C programmable and a load of up to 22,000 pounds programmable, for use in a vacuum or inert gas environment, and equipped with hot eject capability.
• SPEX mechanical mills. Netzsch DSC404/3/F differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) with extended temperature range (-150 to 1500 °C) and controlled atmosphere capabilities.
• TA Instruments Thermal Analyst 2000 Thermogravimetric Analyzer (TGA).
• Radio-frequency impedance measurement system integrated with the PPMS. This includes custom designed RF probe, lock-in amplifiers from Stanford Research Systems, frequency counter and stable DC power supply from Hewlett-Packard.
• Keithley Model 2001 Digital Multimeter, Model 2400 Source Meter and Model 2182 Nanovoltmeter for precision I-V and tunneling current measurements.
• Paramagnetic Resonance ( EPR) Spectrometer System, Bruker EMX 10/12, X-band and Q-band, temperature range (3.8K-300K).
• Vector Vibrating Sample magnetometer Lakeshore 7307, temperature range 3.8K-1273K.
• Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) Welder (Miller Maxstar DX). This welding machine is used to build custom stainless steel vacuum components and to repair existing vacuum systems. This machine is capable of current outputs as high as 120 A using 120 V input and 200 A using 240 V input. The welder has pulse on/off, pulse frequency, peak % time, background amperage, initial amperage, initial slope time, final slope time and final amperage control.  (C. Ventrice , SC 1065A)
• Thermo Nicolet NEXUS 670 FT-IR. (J. Fang , SC 2026-2034 corridor)
• Ocean Optics Fiber UV-Vis Spectrometer.  (J. Fang , SC 2024)
• Princeton 273A Potentiostat/Galvanostat.  (J. Fang , SC 2026-2034 corridor)
• Protein Solution Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) System.
• NAPCO 2028R Multi-Functional Centrifuge.  (J. Fang , SC 2024)
• Lindberg/Blue-M Box Furnace.  (J. Fang , SC 2034)
• Lindberg Tube Furnace System.
• Freas High-Precision Ovens.  (J. Fang , SC 2026-2034 corridor)
• Lindberg/Blue-M Vacuum Ovens. 
• RPR-200 Rayonet UV Reactor System.  (J. Fang , SC 2024)
• Servers and Workstation equipment: one server and 24 workstations running Windows XP and Unix for theory and modeling. (L. Spinu, SC 2025 and S. Whittenburg , CSB 234)
• Other Resources. Other smaller equipment items also are available to AMRI researchers. These include arc induction furnaces, tube furnaces, Schlenck and high vacuum lines, three VAC atmosphere controlled glove boxes for wet and dry chemical synthesis, and a variety of wet chemistry laboratory equipment. The Chemistry Department at UNO manages a large instrumentation facility that houses state-of-the-art NMR spectrometers (300, 400, and 500 MHz), mass spectrometers (4 units, including Tandem MS and MALDI MS), and UV-Vis-IR spectrometers, which also are available to AMRI researchers. Also available to our researchers through the College of Sciences are a machine shop, an electronics shop, and a glass shop for use as needed on our projects.