Acquisition of a Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscope

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9311302 Seraphin This field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) will be for the characterization of the microstructure of materials in the nanometer range. Applying first the instrument to advanced ceramic studies, we will monitor the distribution of additives during heating and cooling that determines the properties of the final product. In order to develop appropriate models, it is essential to image during the early phase of sintering the additive particles of nanometer size, and their distribution on the surface of the ceramic powder. Secondly, in our studies of the morphology and yield of carbon nanotubes, it is essential to examine the carbonaceous deposits on the cathode of the arcdischarge with the purpose of optimizing the processing conditions for the production of a desired shape and size of the carbon clusters. A third project examines biomimetic composites with the same architecture as natural materials such as bones and teeth. The study aims at the development of methods to grow various minerals into a polymer matrix of the dimensional characteristics of particle sizes, shapes and orientation that resembles the natural material in the nanometer range. A fourth project investigates the scattering losses in planar waveguides used in optical data storage devices through the use of controlled crystal nucleation at the surfaces, detecting and identifying thus scattering centers in the interior of these materials. Copper contamination on silicon wafers will be studied as the fifth project area. The deposits, once again in the nanometer range, will be directly observed and identified under various processing conditions. Examining the copper crystals and their associated substrate corrosion and dissolution patterns will facilitate strategies that eliminate metal contamination during chemical processing of semiconductor devices. The five projects will serve as examples for the wide range of fundamental issues in which the availabi lity of the FE-SEM will advance related materials research. Additional projects will rapidly join these five, taken from medical research, biochemistry, biotechnology, geoscience, optical orders of magnitudes smaller than before, is of vital issue, especially in the early phases of related fundamental processes. Areas of technological interest will advance through the related research, giving the acquisition of this powerful instrument a proper justification in terms of industrial advances. ***