Upgrading of Scanning Electron Microscope for Chemical and Morphological Feature Analysis

该奖项提供了完成南达科他州矿业与技术学院扫描电子显微镜（SEM）实验室现代化所需的关键资金。在一九九九年七月，扫描电镜上的能量色散x射线探测器将被一个新的轻元素探测器和微量分析系统所取代，该系统由院校和实验室资源资助。美国国家科学基金会提供的额外资金将用于增加先进的化学和形态图像分析软件，并用新的电视速率探测器取代现有的背散射电子探测器。升级后的扫描电镜将结合最先进的成像、x射线微分析、成分和形态图像处理能力。新的分析和成像能力将有利于以下领域的基础和应用地球科学研究：花岗岩和伟晶岩的岩石学演化；变质作用中元素的再分配；岩石和矿物的光谱特性；热液矿床成因；海洋和陆地脊椎动物化石的系统学；风尘的流体力学；应用地质遥感。主要的好处将来自于新的背散射电子探测器的效率，用于检查抛光的岩石薄片，能够生成矿物图或基于x射线或背散射电子信号的模态分析，以及快速化学和形态表征和颗粒分类的能力。这些对SEM设备的改进被认为对SDSM&amp；T地质和地质工程的研究和培训活动至关重要。此外，扫描电镜设备服务于整个校园，许多重要的跨学科研究项目已经在实验室启动。因此，该奖项所带来的改进将对整个大学的教师和学生产生广泛的影响。＊＊＊

9906361DukeThis award provides critical funding needed to complete modernization of the scanning electron microscope (SEM) laboratory at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. In July 1999 the energy-dispersive X-ray detector on the SEM will be replaced with a new light-element detector and microanalysis system funded with institutional and laboratory resources. The additional funding provided by this NSF grant will be used to add advanced chemical and morphological image analysis software and to replace the existing backscattered electron detector with a new TV-rate detector. The upgraded SEM will combine state-of-the-art capabilities in imaging, X-ray microanalysis, and compositional and morphological image processing.The new analytical and imaging capabilities will benefit basic and applied geoscience research in the following areas: petrologic evolution of granites and pegmatites; element redistribution during metamorphism; spectroscopic properties of rocks and minerals; genesis of hydrothermal ore deposits; systematics of marine and terrestrial vertebrate fossils; fluid dynamics of wind-blown dust; and applied geological remote sensing. The principal benefits will derive from the efficiency of the new backscattered electron detector for examination of polished petrologic thin sections, the ability to generate mineral maps or modal analyses based on X-ray or backscattered electron signals, and the capability for rapid chemical and morphological characterization and classification of particles. These improvements to the SEM facility are considered critical to the research and training activities in geology and geological engineering at SDSM&T. Moreover, the SEM facility serves the entire campus and many important interdisciplinary research projects have been initiated in the laboratory. Consequently, the improvements resulting from this award will have a broad impact on faculty and students throughout the university. ***