Conversation with Tarik AIT-YOUNES
CRITT Analyses & Surface’s Director

“Analyses & Surface” laboratory is an Innovation and Technological Transfer Center, and a Technological Resources Center, founded in 1993 on the territory of Haute-Normandie. Its 8 employees deal with 1400 files per year for about 200 companies, 50% of the work is carried out for companies from Haute-Normandie, the other half for the rest of the national territory.

What are the main fields you take part in ?

“Analyses & Surface” laboratory‘s main mission is to provide assistance to companies in their development, research and innovation projects. It is specialized in performing tests, studies and expertises on materials, especially on their surface, content, nature, composition and behavior.

What are the competences you make use of ?

The laboratory has got the competences to perform failure expertises, i.e. to determine causes that triggered off fracture, short-circuit, premature ageing…. We can also identify particles, fibers, stains, pollutions in order to determine their origin, and thus to correct possible incidents occurred along the manufacturing process. Materials study, in addition to composition analysis, leads to validate products development process by analyzing final samples morphology. Non-contact surface topography, optical and electron microscopy are very useful in this context.

What technical means do you have ?

In addition to a skilled team, we have very-high-technology analysis and investigation means :

 a scanning electron microscope equipped with an X-Rays microanalysis, that allows not to observe materials’ surface with a high magnification, but also to determine their elemental composition
 a 3D digital microscope, to observe samples in the 3 directions, in order to detect contact defaults for example,
 Three non-contact surface topography stations,
 An X-Rays microtomography, that allows making 3D-reconstructions.

Thanks to these means, we can control flatness, brasings, surface treatment, or identify a conduction default, a pollution source…

What are your perspectives of development ?

The laboratory is enrolled in local research networks : “PFT Normandie Securité Sanitaire”, university and independent laboratories, “GRR matériaux”, clusters like MOVEO, COSMETIC VALLEY, PHARMA Parc, excellence networks like “Normandie AeroEspace” or “Chimie Biologie Santé”. This permits to initiate R&D works in a collaborative mode, and ensure complementary skills to the service of clients.