Acquisition of a Field Emission Gun Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope for Research and Education in Materials Science

这笔赠款支持采购场发射枪环境扫描电子显微镜(ESEM-FEG)。这项收购的智力价值在于研究，特别是与生物医学材料成分、纳米颗粒、金属和合金、陶瓷、复合材料、玻璃、光子材料、氧化现象、薄膜以及材料和生命系统之间的相互作用有关。该仪器能够以比目前可用的更高的分辨率和精度来表征样品的微观结构和化学成分。例如，ESEM-FEG允许进行动态加热和冷却实验，并观察发生在纳米级的反应。新的显微镜将被安置在校园内一个专门的、新装修的实验室里。生物材料工业推广服务中心为ESEM-FEG的购买和维护提供部分资金。此次收购的更广泛影响包括通过在材料科学的所有领域使用最先进的仪器，包括生物细胞、细胞/基质界面和材料/外部介质界面，在AU工程和科学计划方面的教育进步。总体而言，通过向本科生和研究生提供最先进的表征工具，作为其课程和研究活动的一部分，收购该ESEM-FEG将使AU的研究和教学受益。一个不同的群体，包括少数民族和女教职员工和学生，将使用环境扫描电子显微镜-FEG。该仪器将AU显微镜设施升级到最先进的水平，有利于本科生和研究生教学，鼓励大学内的跨学科研究，并吸引当地高中生投身科学和工程职业。

This grant supports the acquisition of a field emission gun environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM-FEG). The intellectual merit of this acquisition is in research, particularly related to biomedical materials components, nanoparticles, metals and alloys, ceramics, composites, glasses, photonic materials, oxidation phenomena, thin films, and the interactions between materials and living systems. The instrument enables the microstructure and chemical composition of specimens to be characterized at a higher resolution and accuracy than presently available. For instance the ESEM-FEG allows dynamic heating and cooling experiments to be performed with observation of reactions occurring on the nanoscale level. The new microscope will be housed in a dedicated and newly renovated laboratory on campus. The Biomaterials Industrial Outreach Services (BIOS) Center provides partial funding towards the purchase and maintenance of the ESEM- FEG. The broader impacts of this acquisition include education advancement in AU engineering and science programs through state-of-the-art instrumentation used in all areas of materials science, including biological cells, the cell/matrix interface, and the material/exterior medium interface. Overall, acquisition of this ESEM-FEG will benefit research and teaching at AU by making state-of-the-art characterization tools available to both undergraduate and graduate students as part of their curriculum and research activities. A diverse group, including minorities and women faculty and students, will use the ESEM-FEG. This instrument upgrades the AU microscopy facilities to state-of-the-art level, benefiting both undergraduate and graduate teaching, encouraging interdisciplinary studies within the University, and attracting local high school students to careers in science and engineering.