technician working in a glovebox


Devices and Techniques

Mobile Electromagnetic Levitator

  • Containerless processing in high-purity environment
  • Thermal analysis by infrared pyrometer
  • In situ studies of nucleation and crystal growth using high-speed video
  • In situ XRD studies of phase formation and transformations using high-energy synchrotron radiation
  • Microstructure development upon solidification from different undercooling levels (ex situ sample analysis

Technical characteristics

  • Sample environment: vacuum up to 10-8 mbar or inert gas (Ar, He, He/H2)
  • Cold trap: additional environment purification
  • Carousel sample changer and manipulator
  • Sample heating: induction coil and/or laser beam: decoupling of the positioning and temperature control; possibility to process semiconductors
  • Temperature: up to ~2000 °C
  • Sample cooling: inert gas jet
  • High-speed high-resolution video camera (up to 180 000 fps)
  • Designed for synchrotron XRD measurements at PETRA III, DESY Hamburg

Resistive (Joule) fast-heating setup

  • Studies of phase transformations upon heating & cooling of metallic glasses by monitoring the sample resistivity and temperature
  • In situ XRD studies of crystallization and phase transitions using high-energy synchrotron radiation
  • Fabrication of metallic glass/crystal composites upon annealing

Technical details

  • Samples: metallic ribbons (50-60 mm length, 1-2 mm width, 20-500 µm thickness)
  • Sample environment: vacuum of ~10-4 mbar or inert gas (He, Ar)
  • Sample heating: Joule-heating at a rate of 101 to 103 K/s
  • Sample cooling: inert gas flow
  • Temperature measurement by infrared pyrometer and thermocouple
  • Designed for synchrotron XRD measurements at PETRA III, DESY Hamburg

Mechanical testing setup for in situ XRD

  • Measurement of stress-strain curves upon uniaxial tension or compression
  • In situ XRD studies of structure and phase transformations upon mechanical load and heating

Technical details

  • Samples: metallic ribbons or bone-shaped bulk samples (30 mm length)
  • Sample environment: vacuum of ~10-4 mbar
  • Sample heating: Joule-heating
  • Temperature measurement by infrared pyrometer
  • Designed for synchrotron XRD measurements at PETRA III, DESY Hamburg

High-temperature viscosimeter

Measurement of dynamic viscosity of liquid metals by oscillating-cup method

Technical characteristics:

  • Temperature up to 1250 °C
  • Sample environment: vacuum up to ~10-7 mbar
  • Crucibles: alumina, boron nitride, graphite, quartz glass
  • Measurement during heating or cooling at a rate of 1 K/s

Setup for wetting tests by sessile drop method

  • In situ studies of wetting behavior of a molten drop on a solid substrate using digital video
  • Contact angle measurements
  • Determination of surface tension and density for liquids on non-wettable substrates
  • Studies of reactivity and phase formation at liquid/solid interfaces

Technical characteristics:

  • Temperature up to 1250 °C
  • Molybdenum wire heater
  • Sample environment: vacuum of ~10-5 mbar or inert gas atmosphere (Ar)

Laboratory X-ray diffraction

PANalytical X´Pert Pro, XRD 2183, XRD 3290 diffractometers

Technical details

  • Geometry: Bragg-Brentano
  • X-ray tubes: Cobalt, Copper
  • Samples: powder & bulk samples
  • Sample environment: ambient conditions

STOE StadiP Dual Source diffractometers

Technical details

  • Geometry: Bragg-Brentano & Debye-Scherrer
  • X-ray tubes: Cobalt, Copper, Molybdenum
  • Samples: powder & bulk samples
  • Sample environment: ambient conditions, high temperature, low temperature

Panalytical X‘PertPro MRD diffractometer

Technical details

  • Geometry: high-resolution XRD, grazing incidence, reflectometry, reciprocal space mapping
  • X-ray tube: Copper
  • Samples: thin films
  • Sample environment: ambient conditions, elevated temperature (up to 300°C)