SBIR Phase II: An Inexpensive Educational Scanning Tunneling Microscope and Related Courseware

SBIR 第二阶段：廉价的教育型扫描隧道显微镜及相关课件

• 批准号: 9630558
• 负责人: Philip Lippel
• 金额: $ 30.25万
• 依托单位: L3 Consulting
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1996
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1996-09-01 至 1999-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9630558&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; II; Inexpensive; Educational

*** 9630558 Lippel The Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) is a revolutionary new instrument that is being widely used in studying surfaces at the nanometer level (atomic scale). This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project from L3 Consulting will introduce low cost Scanning Tunneling Microscopes (STMs) into the first-year college curriculum in Physics and Chemistry. Phase I SBIR research at L3 Consulting resulted in a design which uses advanced electroceramic actuators, audio-quality data converters, and a digital signal processor to produce a very inexpensive microscope. L3 Consulting also demonstrated how this microscope would enable students to image atomic steps at the surface of metals and semiconductors, examine integrated circuits or compact discs with resolution below the diffraction limit of optical microscopes, and otherwise explore physical phenomena at the nanometer scale. Continuing efforts in Phase II will develop prototypes of the instrument and of accompanying laboratory exercises, test these prototypes with college students in regular classes, and evaluate the impact of these new tools on students' interest in and understanding of the physical sciences. The courseware will emphasize the relationship between microscopic features of materials and their macroscopic properties. It will encourage students to inquire how the abstract fundamental concepts stressed in introductory courses can be applied to explain the behavior of real-world materials and devices. Students will gain valuable skill's by learning how to operate these microscopes, how to interpret the images obtained, and how to extrapolate from those images. College and university faculty can present STMs as examples of modern research instruments and can use STM-based labs to expand their coverage of contemporary physics and chemistry. Successful Phase II research will lead to a refined design for a microscope/ courseware package suitable for commercial production and distribution. The primary target market for the product is formed by large introductory classes in physics and chemistry which are taken by students of engineering, medicine and the allied health professions, and architecture, as well as by future scientists. Derivative products might be suitable at other educational levels or for industrial use. ***

*9630558理柏扫描隧道显微镜(STM)是一种革命性的新仪器，正被广泛用于纳米级(原子尺度)的表面研究。L3咨询公司的这个小企业创新研究第二阶段项目将把低成本扫描隧道显微镜(STM)引入大学一年级的物理和化学课程。L3咨询公司的第一阶段SBIR研究产生了一种使用先进的电子陶瓷致动器、音频质量数据转换器和数字信号处理器来生产非常便宜的显微镜的设计。L3咨询公司还演示了这种显微镜如何使学生能够成像金属和半导体表面的原子台阶，以低于光学显微镜衍射极限的分辨率检查集成电路或光盘，以及以其他方式探索纳米级的物理现象。第二阶段的持续努力将开发仪器的原型和配套的实验室练习，在常规课堂上与大学生测试这些原型，并评估这些新工具对学生对物理科学的兴趣和理解的影响。该课件将强调材料的微观特征与其宏观性能之间的关系。它将鼓励学生探索如何应用入门课程中强调的抽象基本概念来解释现实世界中材料和设备的行为。学生将通过学习如何操作这些显微镜，如何解释所获得的图像，以及如何从这些图像中推断，来获得宝贵的技能。学院和大学教职员工可以将STM作为现代研究工具的例子，并可以使用基于STM的实验室来扩大他们对当代物理和化学的覆盖范围。成功的第二阶段研究将导致一个适合商业生产和发行的显微镜/课件包的精细化设计。该产品的主要目标市场是由大型物理和化学入门课程形成的，这些课程由工程、医学和相关卫生专业的学生以及未来的科学家学习。衍生产品可能适用于其他教育水平或工业用途。***