News & events

The Helium Ion Microscope (HIM) has been installed and made available to partner FAU through INAM GmbH (Forchheim, DE) and is now operational. First images show TiO₂ nanoparticles in the gut of a daphnia. The next step will be the installation of the mass spectrometer on the HIM.

The focal plane detector of the npSCOPE instrument is now fully operational. Below are shown some images of major components in a Perovskite solar cell.

The second review meeting of the npSCOPE project was organised at LIST in Luxembourg to present the progress of the project, in particular the assembly of the npSCOPE instrument, and to make some demo of the npSCOPE instrument to our Project Officer from the European Commission and our external reviewer. The project was evaluated very positively and helpful suggestions on project implementation and the interaction with other European projects were received.

The first cryo-components have been installed within the main chamber of the npSCOPE instrument. A large cryo-shield now covers the interior ceiling of the analysis chamber and is connected to a liquid nitrogen dewar. First cool down/warm up cycles have been successfully performed.

The detector for Scanning Transmission Ion Microscopy (STIM) was installed into the bottom pumping tube of the main chamber of the npSCOPE instrument. To adjust its position, it has been mounted on an extension arm.

The general assembly at month 30 was organised by the partner from the ETH in Zürich, Switzerland. During the first day, the progress of the different work packages was discussed and the review meeting at the end of June was prepapred. During the second day, the progress of the npSCOPE project was presented to the Advisory Board which led to fruitful discussions and to advice on project implementation.

A video presenting the npSCOPE project has been added to the website:

Applications beyond nanotoxicology are being explored. Partner FAU has prepared samples of microsized GaN rods doped with Si (lower part) and Mg (upper part) (cf. figure) for npSCOPE correlative microscopy analysis. As another application for the semi-conductor industry lithium distribution in next-generation batteries prepared by added manufacturing is of interest.

The potential of correlative microscopy combining high-resolution structural and chemical information will also be tested for medical purposes, for example to detect the spatial distribution of ¹²C¹⁵N (compared to ¹²C¹⁴N) after ¹⁵N-thymidine incorporation into the DNA, or accumulation of fluoride from drinking water in tissue biopsies from intestine, liver, heart and/or brain.

The main vacuum chamber of the instrument has been installed onto the anti-vibration frame at LIST with the support of ZEISS. Currently, the instrument is equipped with the GFIS column, the ET detector, the electron flood gun,  the standard NanoFab load-lock as well as the standard NanoFab stage. A test phase to assess if the specifications of the GFIS column are met will be started now.

Such a study have been performed to provide samples of interest for correlative imaging using the npSCOPE instrument. Partner TOXALIM showed no major impact of 22 nm TiO₂ (P25, Degussa) on barrier integrity and no evidence of DNA strand breaks in human buccal epithelial TR146 cells cultured in vitro on filters and exposed for 24 hours to exposure concentrations up to 100 µg/ml. However, a dose-dependent chromatin remodeling was observed, which could be decreased again when the nanoparticles were washed out after 2 hours exposure. Whether the TiO₂ nanoparticles are directly and physically involved in altering the chromatin structure in the nucleus will be further investigated through combined TEM and HIM-SIM analyses of the exposed cells.

Partner LIST has performed benchmarking HIM-SIM analyses on its 3D co-culture model of the small intestine (Caco-2/TC7 gut epithelial cells combined with HT29 mucus-secreting goblet cells) exposed to TiO₂ nanoparticle after in vitro simulated digestion (cf. Figure).

The GA meeting at month 24 was organised by the partner from the Friedrich Alexander Universität in Forchheim, Germany.

During the two days progress in the different work packages was discussed and objectives for the next six months were set. The meeting finished with a visit of the local laboratories.

Zeiss was organising in collaboration with LIST the 1st European Orion Nanofab SIMS Workshop where they introduced the new system combining ultimate high resolution imaging with chemical information.

This workshop took place on 4-5 December in Luxembourg. The event included presentations from internationally leading researchers covering high resolution SIMS applications in the fields of material science, life science and geology. Discover new trends in high resolution materials analysis whilst getting hands-on practical experience with this new technology.

More information can be found on the workshop website.

At the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, molecular dynamics computer simulations are employed to study the sputtering yield and channeling effects in Gold nano-clusters of different sizes. Primary ion energy and crystal orientation are varied to obtain a holistic image of the possible effects relevant for scanning transmission ion microscopy. Our results show that ion-channeling occurs not only in the principal low-index, but also in other directions in between. The strengths of different channels are specifed, and their correlations with sputtering yield and damage production is addressed. The figure below shows sputtering under 30 keV He ion irradiation of 5 nm Gold nano-clusters.

The GA meeting at month 18 was held in Oberkochen, Germany at the Zeiss headquarters. During the first day, the focus was on instrument design and assembly, cryo and correlative workflows and data processing. On the second day, project coordination and management were discussed.

A SIMS system has been installed on the test chamber with the GFIS column at LIST in Luxembourg in order to get first mass spectrometry data on the npSCOPE system:

During the tests, first images of a Li-TiO nanoparticle mixture could be obtained. The Li⁺ signal is shown on the left and the Ti⁺ signal on the right:

The Review Meeting and GA at month 12 was held in the Helmholtz Zentrum Dresden Rossendorf (HZDR) in Dresden, Germany.

During the first day the developments of the first year were reviewed. During the second day, specific tasks were discussed in more detail and the work for the 6 coming months prepared. The GA finished with a visit of the facilities of HZDR.

The GFIS source and column manufactured by ZEISS have been shipped to Luxembourg and are now installed on a test chamber in the npSCOPE laboratory at LIST. The specification tests for He⁺ and Ne⁺ beams were successfully fulfilled. The different npSCOPE partners are in the final stages of designing the various other components of the npSCOPE instrument (e.g. STHIM system, SIMS system, cryo-stage, main chamber, load lock system, ...). These components will be integrated progressively during the next months.

The new laboratory at LIST which is going to house the npSCOPE instrument is now ready!

The constrution of the extension of the LIST building, which is going to hold the npSCOPE instrument, started today.

The GA meeting at month 6 was held in Lake House near the VITO headquarters in Mol, Belgium.

During one day and a half, 21 members of the 9 project partners discussed the progress of the different work packages.

The kick-off meeting for the Horizon 2020-funded project npSCOPE was held in Belvaux in Luxembourg. It was hosted by the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), the project coordinator.

During this 2 day event, 27 members from the 9 partner institutes were fixing the working programme for the first 6 months.