MSE SEMINAR
October 3, 2008
113 McBryde Hall
3:30 – 4:30
Refreshments at 3:00
Dr. Nabil Bassim
Nanoscale Materials Section
U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
Washington, DC
“From Atomic Surface Steps to Stars: Using TEM and
FIB to Study Materials”
ABSTRACT
The transmission electron microscope (TEM) is a powerful tool for studying heterogeneous materials down to the
atomic level. When coordinated with the focused ion beam scanning electron microscope (FIB-SEM), unprecedented
access to site specific features can be obtained.
In this seminar, I will demonstrate how FIB and TEM can be used to: 1) gain insight into the influence of
surface steps in a substrate of 4-H SiC on the nucleation and growth of a heteroepitaxial layer of GaN; which is useful
for high-power, high mobility electronic devices and Blue-UV LED’s/lasers. 2) lay the ground work for the analysis of
recently acquired from NASA’s Stardust mission first sample-return since the Apollo missions by performing 3-D
reconstructions of micron-sized impact craters in the foils lining the collection trays and 3) study radiation damage to
soft materials in order to understand the chemistry of primordial organics found in the Stardust.
BIOSKETCH
Dr. Nabil Bassim is a Materials Research Scientist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC. His
research focuses on nanoscale characterization primarily through electron microscopy of materials in a variety of
systems, from thin-film electronics to naturally occurring materials such as diamonds and meteorites. He has a
Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of South Florida, a Masters in Materials Science
with a Metallurgy focus and a Ph.D. in Materials Science with an Electronic Materials focus from the University of
Florida. He graduated in 2002 and served through 2 postdocs in the DC area, first at the Naval Research Laboratory
and second at the National Institute of Standards & Technology. He has been back at NRL as a staff member since July
2007.