Project

Buckminster fullerene ion gun for advanced chemical depth profiling of organic and polymer materials

Acronym
Buckminster
Code
319205616
Duration
01 May 2016 → 30 April 2020
Funding
Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO)
Research disciplines
  • Natural sciences
    • Analytical chemistry not elsewhere classified
    • Macromolecular and materials chemistry not elsewhere classified
  • Engineering and technology
    • Process engineering not elsewhere classified
    • Polymeric materials not elsewhere classified
Keywords
ion gun
 
Project description

The proposed equipment is a Buckminster fullerene (C60) ion gun combined with an electronic cabinet in which the control electronics will be placed. The ion gun produces a 10 kV beam of C60 cluster ions which is being used to bombard soft materials. Upon impact with the sample, the C60 clusters release their energy in the near surface region providing a highly efficient sputtering process that exposes a subsurface layer with minimal chemical damage. In combination with an XPS device, the ion gun is thus capable of performing very accurate chemical depth profiling of soft materials. Due to the limited lifetime of the C60 ion source (2-3 years), a spare ion source is also foreseen (repair costs). Besides this, a maintenance contract for a period of 5 years is also included to garantuee a continuous operation of the device. Two quotations are attached to the proposal, showing the individual pricing of the C60 ion gun, the spare C60 ion source and the maintenance contract.