Department Structure and Dynamics of Energy Materials

Crystallography Lab

The Crystallography Laboratory suite offers excellent tools for the growth/synthesis of materials in vacuum/inert gas conditions. Additional support for the determination of structural properties (by lab X-ray diffraction) and chemical composition is offered. Users are invited to prepare their samples off-beamline in order to save their valuable neutron – or photon beamtime at the HZB’s large scale facilities.

Samples of all kinds of material can be introduced into sealed silica tubes and annealed in 1-zone furnaces at temperatures up to 1100°C. Powder materials can be synthesized by solid state reaction as well as thin films (metals/metal stacks/precursor compounds) can be sulferized or selenized, both in vacuum or inert gas conditions using sealed silica tubes. Chalcogenide nanocrystal can be prepared by a colloidal route. For this synthesis a Schlenk line installed within a fume hood is avalable. In the near future, single crystals of chalcogenide compounds can be grown by chemical vapour transport (CVT) using a 2-zone furnace. All synthesized materials can be analyzed by X-ray powder diffraction. Optical microscopy is also available. We can handle sensitive materials using a glove box.

The equipment is accesible for HZB scientists as well as for visiting scientists at the HZB using the “calendar of scheduled experiments”. Users will be trained and supported during their experiments by the staff of the EM-AKR department.