First of its kind LEAP technology now in India
Posted on: 02/Jan/2018 5:00:58 PM
Six IITs, Indian Institutes of Technology, and the International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), Hyderabad, have come together to put in place a state-of-the-art atomic probe research in collaboration with department of science and technology`s (DST) `Nano` mission.
The project is under the leadership of IIT Madras. With this, India has received her first Local Electrode Atom Probe (LEAP) equipment at a cost of Rs 32 crore, making it one of the major hubs of research in designing materials with tailored properties. Globally, there are 90 LEAP platforms.
The first one was installed at IIT-Madras in July 2017. It is the first of its kind as it can be operated from anywhere in the world. This is a high-performance microscope that provides a precise atom-by-atom view of a material, enabling a true three-dimensional (3D) atomic scale reconstruction and is expected to impart a thrust to research in nanotechnology, among other fields.
Madras, Delhi, Bombay, Kanpur, Kharagpur and Ropar IITs and ARCI contributed Rs 2 crore each, the remaining fund coming from the DST`s `nano-mission` headed by professor C N R Rao. Says Head of IIT Madras`s department of metallurgical and materials engineering, The knowledge of atomic distribution in a material at the nano-scale is vital for those interested to design and create new materials. Facilities to study material at a small scale are very few even globally and very expensive to create. If we understand the distribution of the atom in materials. when we are doping a material - say silicon, which is needed in all electronics - and if we add germanium, we will change its properties. But in which specific location are we going to add the element and design new materials with new properties are what this research is all about. The big impact will come in the energy sector. The automobile sector, which is looking for light but strong materials, will also be interested. Firms like GE, Boeing, and HAL will be among those interested.
