MICROSCOPY AND STRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION TECHNIQUES - THEORY

This course is one of the core educational activities in the Master's degree in Science and Technology of Bio and Nanomaterials,
that describes some of the common approaches to characterise materials.
The aim of the course is to give the basic of crystallography and diffraction as a tool to characterize solid state materials.
Learning objectives involve understanding of basic principles of crystallography, X-ray diffraction, developing an understanding of electron microscopy principles, and applying these principles to master the
underlying concepts of image interpretation. and to master the underlying concepts of structural characterisation.
The basic principle of symmetries in solids will be outlined and developed in order to have a quantitative tool in the characterisation of materials. These knowledges will be then used to interpret the X-ray diffraction data. The basic principle of electron microscopy will be outlined and developed in order to understand the characteristic and properties of these modern instruments used in the characterisation of nanostructured materials. The course will start from the basic principle of geometrical optics and then the new knowledge necessary to understand the functioning of an electron microscope will be built step by step. At the end of the course the students will be able to interpret an electron microscopy image and to obtain from it the atomic and structural-morphological properties of interest.At the end of the course the students will be able to identify crystalline phases present in any kind of material, to determine the mean particle size, o understand the structural modifications due, for example, to doping.

The student active participation and attendance at classes (theoretical lessons and practical activities) together with independent study, will allow to reach the following abilities of learning and comprehension:
1. to learn the main methods used in crystallography;
2. to learn the standard methods used in X-ray diffractionand in electron microscopy to study materials and specially nano-structured systems;
Linking material learned in class to modern structural characterisation techniques and research will be highlighted to
give you opportunities to see how X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy are solving current, real-world problems.

This is a math-intensive course, and it is expected that students have previous
experience with calculus. In addition, students should be familiar with the concepts learned in calculus-based physics.

Introduction to crystallography: Bravais lattices, point groups, space groups. Definition of Zone Axis, Weiss law, Reciprocal space, reciprocal lattice. Ewald sphere.
Interaction X-photon-matter, Instrumentation, diffraction techniques:single crystal and powder methods.
Application of X-ray diffraction in the study of hard and soft matters: Scherrer equation, Rietveld method.
The Human eye: how it works and its limitation
geometrical optics: thin lens equation, lens aberration, lens systems;
Light-optic Microscopy;
Electron Optics; properties of a thin magnetic lens, defect of electron lenses;
Electron gun: thermoionic and field emission;
Kinematic of scattering by an atomic nucleus; electron-electron scattering; the dynamic of scattering;
Transmission electron microscopy: types of contrast: scattering contrast, diffraction contrast. Electron diffraction; bright field and dark field images; phase contrast. High resolution TEM. TEM specimen preparation.
Scanning electron microscopy: operating principles, secondary electrons, backscattered electrons. The environmental SEM; SEM specimen preparation.
Analytical electron microscopy.

Christopher Hammond, The Basic of Crystallography and Diffraction, 4th edition, Oxford science publication, 2015.
Marc De Graef, Michael McHenry, Structure of Materials, Cambridge University Press, 2012.
Pecharsky Vitalij, Zavalij Peter, Fundamentals of Powder Diffraction and Structural Characterization of Materials,Springer. Berlin, 2008.
Fultz Brent, Howe James, Transmission Electron Microscopy and Diffractometry of Materials, Springer 4th edition 2013.
Ray F. Egerton Physical Principles of Electron Microscopy An Introduction to TEM, SEM, and AEM, Springer Nature , 2nd edition, 2016
David B. Williams, C. Barry Carter, Springer; 2nd edition (2009).Transmission Electron Microscopy: A Textbook for Materials Science.

The knowledge acquired by the students will be verified through oral examinations.
The students will be asked to solve some numerical exercises related to the arguments explained during lessons. Furthermore the students will be asked to answer some theoretical questions about topics developed during classes.

written and oral

The final grade will the arithmetic average between the mark obtained during the written examination and the mark of the oral examination.

Face to face lessons (mainly using blackboard)

English

The final examination will be aimed at verifying the comprehension of the content of the course and on the applications of the different techniques to the study of real applicative problems.
Enrolling for the examination is allowed only to students that attended at least 80% of classes.
Accessibility, Disability and Inclusion

Accommodation and support services for students with disabilities and students with specific learning impairments:
Ca’ Foscari abides by Italian Law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) regarding supportservices and accommodation available to students with disabilities. This includes students with mobility, visual, hearing and other disabilities (Law 17/1999), and specific learning impairments (Law 170/2010). In the case of disability or impairment that requires accommodations (i.e., alternate testing, readers, note takers or interpreters) please contact the Disability and Accessibility Offices in Student Services: disabilita@unive.it.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Circular economy, innovation, work" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development