Aquisition of Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope

俄勒冈州立大学(OSU)请求援助，以获得具有集成X射线能谱仪(XES)的场发射扫描电子显微镜(FESEM)，以取代已有18年历史、老化的扫描电子显微镜/X射线能谱仪(SEM/XES)系统。我们目前的系统是俄亥俄州立大学唯一的这类仪器，建于1976年，并于1981年在使用状态下购买。俄亥俄州立大学已经拍摄了30,000多张显微照片，并用这个扫描电子显微镜记录了超过6000束小时的时间。在1993-94年间，来自9所学院24个系的165名校园研究人员使用了俄亥俄州立大学的电子显微镜设备；该设备由植物学和植物病理学系管理。俄亥俄州立大学教职员工的多样化和高质量的研究需要一个具有现代FESEM所具有的更高分辨率、更广泛的多功能性和更好的可靠性的扫描电子显微镜。在众多用户中，有六名研究人员，分别来自植物和植物病理学系和动物学系，他们将是该仪器的主要受益者；这些人中的每一个目前都有由NSF支持的研究项目。菲利普·布朗内尔博士的研究方向是节肢动物的感觉神经生物学，重点是角质感觉器官以及细微结构与感觉功能的相关性。Aaron Liston博士使用标本馆标本进行形态特征的比较研究，以比较植物物种。Terri Lomax博士的研究重点是在细胞对激素和环境信号的反应水平上了解植物生长和发育的调节。罗伯特·梅森博士研究爬行动物的生殖生物学和化学生态学。Carol Rivin博士的研究重点是玉米胚胎发生所必需的基因的活动和调控。芭芭拉·泰勒博士的项目研究了果蝇成虫发育过程中肌肉及其神经之间的细胞间通讯。除了这些研究项目的直接好处外，我们的SEM/XES系统还有助于吸引教职员工和学生来到俄亥俄州立大学，为本科生和研究生的培训做出贡献，并对俄亥俄州立大学的许多其他基础和应用研究项目至关重要：人类、动物和植物健康、制药和生物工程；空气、水和土壤生态、污染和资源开发与保护；森林病理学、生产力、木材产品的开发和性能；食品和营养；工程、先进金属、陶瓷、玻璃和聚合物材料开发、失效分析和摩擦学；植物学、昆虫学、微生物学、动物学、化学、地质学和物理学。这种新的场发射仪器将显著提高俄勒冈州立大学的研究能力。对细胞和组织表面进行低电压高分辨率检查的新能力使图像质量得到了实质性的改善，并将使研究人员能够将这种改进的技术应用于各种问题。

Oregon State University (OSU) asks assistance to obtain a field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) with an integrated x-ray energy spectrometer (XES) to replace an obsolete, deteriorated 18-year-old scanning electron microscope/x-ray energy spectrometer (SEM/XES) system. Our present system, the only instrument of this type at OSU, was built in 1976 and was purchased in used condition in 1981. OSU has taken over 30,000 micrographs and logged in excess of 6000 beam hours with this SEM. In 1993-94 , 165 campus researchers from 24 departments in nine colleges used the Electron Microscope Facility at OSU; the facility is managed by the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology. Diverse and high quality research by OSU faculty members requires a SEM with the greater resolution, broader versatility, and better reliability available in a modern FESEM. Amongst the many users are six investigators, three each from the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology and the Department of Zoology, that would be primary beneficiaries of this instrument; each of these individuals currently have research projects supported by NSF. Dr. Philip Brownell's research is on sensory neurobiology of arthropods and focuses on cuticular sense organs and the correlation of fine structure with sensory function. Dr. Aaron Liston uses herbarium specimens for comparative examination of morphological features to compare plant species. Dr. Terri Lomax's research centers on understanding the regulation of plant growth and development at the level of cellular responses to hormonal and environmental signals. Dr. Robert Mason studies the reproductive biology and chemical ecology of reptiles. Dr. Carol Rivin's research focuses on activities and regulation of genes essential to embryogenesis in maize. Dr. Barbara Taylor's program investigates intercellular communication between muscles and their innervating nerves during adult development of fruit flies. In addition to the direct benefits t o these research programs, our SEM/XES system helps in attracting faculty and students to OSU, contributes to undergraduate and graduate student training, and is essential to many other of OSU's basic and applied research programs in: human, animal, and plant health, pharmacy, and bioengineering; air, water, and soil ecology, pollution, and resource development and conservation; forest pathology, productivity, and development and performance of wood products; foods and nutrition; engineering, advanced metallic, ceramic, glass, and polymeric materials development, failure analysis, and tribology; botany, entomology, microbiology, zoology, chemistry, geology, and physics. This new field emission instrument would significantly improve the research capability at Oregon State University. The new capabilities for low voltage high resolution examinations of cell and tissue surfaces allow substantial improvements to image quality and would allow researchers to apply this improved technology to a variety of problems.