Quantitative characterisation of nanomaterials using novel low-energy electron spectromicroscopy.

Novel materials, engineered on the nanoscale to generate new and unique properties, are required in a wide range of future applications from next generation electronic and magnetic devices to novel medical and therapeutic applications. The need to characterise these materials is an essential requirement in benchmarking and understanding the new properties prior to implementing in new applications. The use of low energy (<200 eV) electron interactions and emission from such nano-structure materials is of critical value because of the short inelastic mean free path (~ few nanometres) of low energy electrons in solids. This PhD project will use and further develop a novel low-energy lensless scanning electron microscope based on field emission combined with York's novel low-energy electron energy analyser (Bessel box) to image and quantify low-energy electron emission from nano-structure materials. The full understanding of the emission is limited by simulation methods which currently do not accurately model low-energy electron transport and generation in solids. This project will aim to address this and develop more accurate modelling of low energy electron emission from solids, which can be benchmarked against the experimental measurements..