Facilities

Lab Overview

The Edri Lab occupies approximately 120 m² of laboratory and office space in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. The lab is organized around three core activities: thin-film deposition and processing, electrochemical engineering, and spectroscopic characterization.

Several instruments are available for external academic and industrial collaborators on a fee-for-service or collaborative basis. Contact us at edrier@bgu.ac.il to discuss feasibility and scheduling.

Thin-Film Deposition & Processing

Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) Benchtop thermal and plasma-enhanced ALD system (Arradiance) for conformal growth of ultrathin oxide and nitride films, equipped with a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) module and a custom plasma source (Meaglow).

Thermal Evaporation Moorfield nanoPVD benchtop evaporator for high-vacuum deposition of metals and organic materials, with co-deposition capability.

Rapid Thermal Processing Modified Annealsys MS Micro rapid thermal evaporation and annealing unit for selenization and high-temperature processing.

Solution Processing Spin coaters, programmable hot plates, vacuum and argon Schlenk lines, calcination and selenization ovens, ozone cleaner, and full wet-chemistry infrastructure (glassware, analytical balances, pellet press, pH and conductivity meters).

Electrochemical Engineering

Potentiostats / Galvanostats Multiple BioLogic potentiostats (SP-200, SP-50; with analog ultrafast scan capability), a Gamry 1010B with electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (eQCM) attachment, and a CorrTest multichannel potentiostat (4 channels, up to 20 A with booster) for high-current electrolysis studies.

Rotating Disk Electrode (RDE) BioLogic RDE setup for diffusion-limited kinetics and catalyst screening.

CO₂ Electrolyzers Lab-scale electrolyzer cells (1, 5, and 10 cm² active area; Dioxide Materials CRRFC01 and Gaskatel) with computer-controlled gas flow, pressure regulation, and temperature control. Semi-batch Gaskatel cells for membrane testing.

Gas Analysis Online gas chromatograph (GC) for real-time quantification of CO₂ reduction gaseous products (CO, H₂, CH₄, and higher hydrocarbons).

GDE Fabrication Full setup for preparing and characterizing gas diffusion electrodes, including ultrasonic spray coating (SONOTEK, available at the BGU Nanofabrication Unit).

Spectroscopic Characterization

FTIR Spectroscopy Thermo Scientific iS50R FTIR spectrometer with photoelastic modulator infrared reflection–absorption spectroscopy (PEM-IRRAS), surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy (SEIRAS), variable-angle ATR, electrochemical (spectroelectrochemistry) accessory, and fast/ultrafast high-sensitivity MCT detectors.

Deep-Level Transient Spectroscopy (DLTS) SemiLab DLS-83D DLTS system with cryostat (−150 to 600 °C) and optical modulation unit for defect characterization in thin-film semiconductors.

Solar Cell Characterization Dedicated photovoltaics characterization setup: source-measure units (SMU), multiplexer, calibrated light sources, and analysis software for J–V and EQE measurements.

Shared Facilities (BGU)

Through the IKI Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, the lab has access to:

• X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) — monochromatic Al Kα source, sputter depth profiling, charge neutralizer
• Scanning and Transmission Electron Microscopy (SEM/TEM)
• Plasma-Enhanced ALD/CVD (shared deposition facility)

External Access

We welcome inquiries from academic groups and companies interested in instrument access or research collaboration. Typical arrangements include measurement services, training visits, and joint research projects.

Contact: edrier@bgu.ac.il