This block course takes place at the campus of the Paul Scherrer Institute on the premises of Laboratory for Mesoscopic Systems. The program consists of brief introductory lectures to the fabrication and characterization of thin magnetic films, which will be followed by hands-on sessions.

The course takes place at the campus of the Paul Scherrer Institute. The program consists of introductory lectures on the use of photons, neutrons and muons for materials characterization, as well as tours of the large scale facilities of PSI.

The lecture course is aimed at qualifying the student to choose the optimum characterization method according to the questions posed. The main topics are: Thermal Analysis (TD, TG, TM, DTA, DSC), light microscopy, diffraction methods (XRD, NRD, SAD), electron microscopy (TEM, HRTEM, STEM, HAADF-STEM, SEM, ESEM, EFEM, EDX, EELS).

The main aim of the course is to enable the students to independently choose a suitable material characterization methods to address a specific materials science question. Subject areas are: light microscopy, diffraction methods (X-rays, neutrons, electrons), electron microscopy, atom probe tomography and atomic force microscopy. Depending on lecturer, lectures and practicals in German or English.