Research

Synchrotron radiation provides a wide range of possibilities in the field of the analysis of materials and interfaces. In particular, methods involving X-rays under grazing incidence (GI) are ideally suited for the investigation of interface-related processes, as experiments are performed with high surface sensitivity. The combination of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) measurements with the GI-geometry has successfully been applied to the characterization of various interface types. The advantageous properties of synchrotron radiation (high coherence, tunable wavelength, low divergence) allow the measurement of atom or ion distributions with a resolution in the nanometer range at a wide range of interface types. So, for example, the distribution of elements in polymer layers applied to the development of organic LEDs has been measured, as well as the composition of the electric double layer over charged solid/liquid interfaces. Experiments are carried out at the synchrotron radiation source DELTA at TU Dortmund, where the ISAS also configures and operates an X-ray beamline for GI-XRF experiments at interfaces.

> DELTA at TU Dortmund