Tuesday, 07 March 2023
After an interesting lecture series, new collaborations on the horizon with the University of Wuppertal
Dr. Ing Ralf Heiderhoff, from Bergische Universität Wuppertal, was invited by Prof. Dr Clivia Sotomayor Torres to visit the ICN2 and to give a course on nanoscale characterization techniques, which was highly appreciated by the researcher community. This strengthened relationship will pave the way for new research collaborations between ICN2 and the University of Wuppertal.
On March 2, the fourth and last lecture of a four-day seminar cycle on nanoscale characterisation techniques was given at the ICN2 by Dr. Ing Ralf Heiderhoff, from Bergische Universität Wuppertal (University of Wuppertal) (Germany). This series was organised in the framework of the ICN2 Open Knowledge Programme and hosted by Prof. Dr Clivia M. Sotomayor Torres, leader of the Phononic and Photonic Nanostructures Group, and took place between February 21 and March 2.
The course offered by Dr Ing. Heiderhoff presented the state of the art in scanning probe microscopy methods for analyzing electrical/electronic, optical/optoelectronic and thermal/mechanical properties of semiconductor devices. In particular, he discussed the possibilities for failure analyses and reliability investigations of smart materials and systems with sub-micrometer resolution.
The lectures were very well attended by both PhD students and senior ICN2 researchers, who appreciated the overview provided by such an expert in characterizations techniques at the nanoscale. During this short stay at the ICN2, Dr Ing. Heiderhoff also had the opportunity to meet researchers from various ICN2 groups, visit their laboratories and engage in fruitful discussions with them. The foundations for a next-future collaboration were laid and a possible exchange of research visits to carry out specific experiments was discussed.
Specifically, the topics touched in the four lectures are the following:
- Introduction into near-field microscopy, Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (spectroscopy), Scanning Force Microscopy (Lennard-Jones potential, principles of detection, contact/intermittent/non-contact mode)
- Scanning Near-field Optical Microscopy (transmission and reflection mode, Scattering SNOM, Tip Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy, wavelength and energy dispersive Near-field Photon Emission Microscopy)
- Conductive Atomic Force Microscopy, Scanning Capacitance Microscopy, Scanning Microwave Impedance Microscopy, Magnetic/Electric Force Microscopy, Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy
- Scanning (Near-field) Thermal Microscopy, Scanning Joule Expansion Microscopy, Scanning Near-field Acoustic Microscopy, Piezoresponse Force Microscopy
About Dr Ing. Ralf Heiderhoff
Dr Ing. Ralf Heiderhoff studied physics and he got his doctoral degree from the School of Electrical, Information, and Media Engineering at the University of Wuppertal 1997. He is head of the "Analytics for failure analysis and reliability investigations" group at the Chair of Electronic Devices. Since 2005 he has been in the management of the Wuppertal Center for Smart Materials & Systems at the University of Wuppertal. In 1999 he was Visiting Lecturer at the National University of Singapore, in 2001 he was Visiting Professor at the Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics and, in 2008, at the Beijing University of Technology.
His research is primarily focused on electrical, opto-electronical, micromechanical, and thermal measurements in the nanometer range as well as the combination of Scanning Electron Microscopes and Scanning Probe Microscopes to hybrid systems. He is a member of the Steering Committee and the Technical Programme Committees of several international conferences in the field of reliability and failure analysis of device (such as ESREF and IPFA).