The SEFs are organized into two units: the Electron Microscopy Shared Experimental Facility and the Materials Analysis and X-Ray Facility, MAX for short. Together they comprise one of the largest core facilities, or centralized shared research resources, at MIT. Currently, the MRL SEFs are used by about 800 researchers. Most of those are from MIT, cutting across 16 departments, but about 10 percent come from other institutions. About five percent come from industry.
We take lab safety very seriously! All personnel using the labs must practice safe laboratory practices and procedures.
The EHS lab representatives are the first contact you will have regarding lab safety. They are there to help you, use them as a resource.
In the end it is you, the individual researcher, who is ultimately responsible for safety — please do not take this responsibility lightly. Good research depends on intelligence, efficiency, and safety.
All researchers are required to read the most recent MRL Chemical Hygiene and Safety Plan and the MIT Working Alone Policy.
Surface Analysis
Thin Film Characterization
Vibrational Electronic and Emission Spectroscopy
X-ray Diffraction
This facility is oriented toward multiple-technique characterization of a variety of solid materials with regard to atomic structure; chemical bonding; elemental and chemical composition of surfaces and interfaces; topographic, magnetic and piezoelectric characteristics of surfaces; and thickness and optical constants of thin films.
Primary Contacts | Secondary Contact | ||
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Elizabeth (Libby) Shaw Research Specialist Office: 13-4149 Phone: (617) 253-5045 Email: elsaw@mit.edu |
Tim McClure Project Technician Office:: 13-4149 Phone: (617) 258-6470 Email: mtim@mit.edu |
Jordan Cox Research Specialist Office:: 13-4013 Phone: (617)-253-6887 Email: jmcox@mit.edu |
Charles Settens, Ph.D. SEF Operations Manager Office: 13-4013 Phone: (845) 430-2584 Email: settens@mit.edu |
Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) allows the researcher to form images of thin slices or nano particles of samples at a resolution of down to 0.14 nm (lattice resolution). Crystal structure may be analyzed by means of electron diffraction, and chemical analysis, with a sensitivity (in ideal cases) of a few atoms and spatial resolution (again, in ideal cases) of about 0.5nm, may be performed by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analysis or electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) analysis.
The Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) is a tool for visualizing the surface of solid samples, with a resolution (depending on the application) that can approach 1nm. Energy-dispersive X-ray analysis can be used to analyze volumes with dimensions of around 1 micron with a sensitivity of about 0.2wt%, while back-scattered electron imaging allows the visualization of regions of different composition. Crystallographic orientation and structure can be examined using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analysis, though sample preparation requirements for this technique are very stringent and limit the number of samples that can be studied in this way.
Primary Contacts | Secondary Contact | |
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Yong Zhang , Ph.D., Research Specialist Office: 13-1027 Phone: (617) 253-5092 Email: yzhang05@mit.edu |
Zhenyuan Zhang Ph.D Research Specialist Office 13-1034 Phone (617) 253-4622 Email zzhang98@mit.edu |
Charles Settens, Ph.D. SEF Operations Manager Office: 13-4013 Phone: (845) 430-2584 Email: settens@mit.edu |