Instrumentation

The development of instrumentation applied to both confine and control low energy electron beam is under way and it will continue: design and construction of an electrostatic lens system that will allow a time-of-flight experiment to be set-up on the existing photoelectron spectrometer. Regarding the thermal decomposition of solid samples by UVPES, the construction of necessary radiofrequency supply to run the high-temperature furnace recently built, will carry on.

It is also under development the design and assemble of an Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) spectrometer based on a commercial X-ray tube (Philips PW 1400) already available, equipped with a changeable secondary target in terbium. The X-ray, the secondary target and the sample support will be mounted in an orthogonal triaxial geometry, which reduces the background and increases the analytical contrast by polarization of the radiation. The detection and acquisition of the radiation emitted by the elements present in the sample will be detected with a Si (Li) detector by Bruker, and a Multispectrum by Baltic Scientific Instruments.

The improvement of the existing Phase-Shift Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy (PSFLIM) setup is also foreseen. It will consist in the replacement of the mechanical positioning apparatus by optical scanners [1]. This will bring the advantage of doing the full image of the sample at a much higher rate (2 images a second).

References

1. P. Vieira, A. Manivannan, P.F. Sharp, and J.V. Forrester, True colour imaging of the fundus using a scanning laser ophthalmoscope. Physiological Measurement, 2002. 23(1): p. 1.