The Open Innovation Hub had the honour of welcoming the Wolfson Foundation CEO Paul Ramsbottom OBE and programme manager Claire Samber to our facilities on the 4th of March.
The Wolfson Foundation has awarded over £750 million in grants to almost 10,000 projects since its establishment in 1955 by Sir Isaac Wolfson. Recently, the Wolfson Foundation provided £800,000 to facilitate the purchase of a Nano-Atomic Force Microscopy-Infrared (AFM-IR) platform in the Surface Science Research Centre. This new platform combines the high spatial resolution of an atomic force microscope (AFM) with local chemical analysis using infrared spectroscopy and allows for rapid non-destructive chemical identification and characterisation, alongside mechanical property mapping.
Image source: Bruker
This platform allows for:
- Non-destructive measurement of 200 mm and 300 mm wafers
- Unambiguous identification of organic and inorganic nano-contaminants
- Non-destructive step-height measurement and nanoscale material property mapping
- <10nm chemical spatial resolution for imaging over a broad range of sample types, including soft organic and inorganic contaminants.