The development of high-performance materials for a sustainable and resource-saving circular economy requires the greatest efforts to achieve breakthrough advances in various technological fields, such as high temperature fuel cells, electrocatalysis, electrochemical energy storage, high-power semiconductors, nanostructures, high-strengthand high-temperature components, sensors and/or coatings. Specifically, surface and interface engineering is of paramount importance for the transition to a sustainable economy, as it enables targeted optimization of key performance parameters such as energy efficiency, durability and protection against degradation. To achieve these most ambitious goals, a comprehensive understanding of high-performance materials and their dynamic changes under various combined loads is an absolute pre-requisite. Complementary analytical techniques, such as TEM, AES, XPS, XRD, LIBS, LA-ICP-MS etc. provide comprehensive and valuable insights about high-performance materials, and their surfaces and interfaces at different length and detection scales.
At TU Vienna, spatially resolved trace analysis is currently covered by a resolution limited and stand-alone Time-Of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer (TOF-SIMS5, IONTOF GmbH, acquired in 2007). New advances in instrumentand material development, however, require (i) an implementation into integrated materials analysis and preparationsystems (ii) in-situ and operando analytics and (iii) latest developments in TOF-SIMS instrumentation, since improvedlateral resolution, detection limit and mass resolution, but also molecular analysis of polymers are only possible withtailored high-end instruments. Especially in the field of semiconductors, nanostructures and quantum sensors, thecombination of chemical information with quantitative topology is necessary to obtain "real" three-dimensional (3D)distribution of the elements and its change under load. Hence, in order to propel cutting-edge materials science, TU Vienna intends to acquire a new type of high-end TOF-SIMS instrument (i.e. based on IONTOF M6 plus). The instrument will be specially tailored to materials analysis for the above-mentioned research areas. It will be equipped with a gas cluster ion source and a gallium Focused Ion Beam (FIB) in addition to the usual bismuth, oxygen and cesium ion sources. Installation of a scanning probe microscope (SPM) in combination with a high-precision piezo stage will enable simultaneous recording of topologybefore, during and after sample ablation. This will enable precise and nanoscopically resolved 3D reconstructions ofcomplex materials. Important to note is also the significantly improved tolerance of the new spectrometer to roughand patterned sample surfaces. In-situ cross-preparation will be realized by the gallium FIB, necessary for porous layers or complex structured samples.
In addition, the system will be equipped with a novel high-performance preparation chamber allowing for analysis ofnanoscopic processes occurring in materials under load (i.e. temperature, electrical and mechanical stress, corrosive gases).
The instrument will be integrated into the Analytical Instrumentation Center (AIC) at TU Wien, providing complementary material analytical methods, i.e. state-of-the-art AES and XPS instruments with three connected vacuum chambers for electrochemical preparation and an actively pumped vacuum suitcase. Since the TOF-SIMS can set exact local markers by means of the Bi-source, the analysis of identical sample sites by different methods will thus become possible across the entire materials analysis infrastructure.
