transmission and scanning transmission modes. In collabora- In 2022, the NI Lab not only began operating the new JEM-F200 tion with Professor Jonathan de Roo (Department of Chemistry), but also acquired another high-power microscope. The new the NI Lab team analyzed the morphology of nanocrystals pro- instrument is a “dual beam electron microscope” (Versa 3D duced in de Roo’s group. Nanocrystals such as these have appli- DualBeam) and was purchased by the SNI from the BioEM Lab cations in many areas, including in superconducting nanocom- at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel. posites, in dental medicine, in coatings or as contrast agents Equipped with a focused ion beam (FIB), the instrument can for X-ray computed tomography. Control over the size of the also operate as a scanning electron microscope and can there- nanocrystals is a prerequisite for many such technologies. fore be used not to only analyze surfaces but also to modify and The microscopic analyses conducted by the NI Lab were also cut them. Now that the NI Lab team has put the new FIB into key to helping researchers working with Professor Christian operation, it is used above all to cut samples using the focused Schönenberger (Department of Physics) gain a better under- ion bean — while the existing FIB is used primarily to deposit standing of why individual tungsten ditelluride layers on pal- various materials and produce high-resolution images. ladium contacts exhibit superconducting properties. For the As with its other microscopes, the Nano Imaging Lab offers group led by Professor Richard Warburton (Department of Phys- a full service, including everything from sample preparation ics), the staff also analyzed quantum dots, which have modifi- to the provision of measurement data and imaging. Customers able optical and electronic properties and are therefore of in- working on longer-term projects can also be trained to use the terest for many future applications. instrument and carry out their own measurements. As well as tasks such as these, which help to address research questions, the NI Lab also carries out work on behalf of compa- nies for the purposes of quality assurance, for example. The companies either interface with the NI Lab directly or access the service via partners such as the ANAXAM technology trans- fer center. Marcus Wyss (center) trains the first customers to use the new transmission electron microscope. With the help of the new scanning transmission electron microscope, the team from the NI Lab was able to visualize the structure of nanocrystals. (Image: Nano Imaging Lab, SNI, University of Basel) “The cross-sectional studies done by Marcus Wyss from the NI Lab with the brand new high-resolution STEM were a game-changer for us. We could now see what happens at electrical contacts to a topological material at the atomic scale.” Professor Christian Schönenberger, Department of Physics, University of Basel SNI Annual Report 2022 47