Acquisition of a High Resolution TEM Equipped with GIF and EDS

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9977391AjayanUsing Major Research Instrumentation funds, a state-of-the-art complete analytical high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) with nano-analytical capabilities will be acquired. The instrument will include a basic 200 keV TEM machine, energy dispersive X-ray analyzer (EDS), Gatan Imaging Filter (GIF) for electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) and chemical mapping and a heating stage. The new instrument will modernize the electron microscopy facility on campus and will have a large impact on the research capabilities. It will be housed in the Materials Research Center of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. There are new strategic research and academic initiatives, for example on nanostructured materials and electronic interconnects, that suffer from the lack of such modern instrumentation on campus. The impact of this HRTEM will be tremendous as it will allow the atomic scale observation of material structures, qualitative and quantitative analysis using EDS, and the bonding state and chemical analysis using EELS. Faculty from the Departments of Materials Science and Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Bio-medical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Science Engineering, Chemistry, Physics and Earth and Environmental Sciences will use this instrument in their research projects to examine a wide range of materials and structures that include carbon nanotubes, nanocomposites, metal and ceramic nanostructures, semiconductor materials and thin films, electrodeposited coatings, fiber-matrix composite interfaces, tissue-biomaterial interfaces, protein structures, glasses and complex minerals. In addition, this instrument will have a significant impact on graduate and undergraduate training and course development. Hands on training, real-time demonstrations on the new microscope, on-line broadcasting of some of the experiments to class-rooms, and HRTEM projects for graduate students will take place. Undergraduate students who are part of the university undergraduate research program and the Research Experiences for Undergraduates site at RPI will benefit from this modern facility. Acquisition of a high resolution transmission electron microscope with funds from the Major Research Instrumentation program will have a large impact on the research and training infrastructure at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. This instrument will be used by investigators in seven departments that are working on advanced materials. Students, ranging from post doctoral to undergraduates, will be trained in its use.