MRI: Acquisition of a Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope for Nano-Texture and Nano-Structure Characterization

佛罗里达A & & M (FAMU) -佛罗里达州立大学（FSU）工程学院的材料科学研究活动和教育项目水平迅速增长，增加了几位新的教师和科学家，并开发了新的课程和研究项目。我们在纳米尺度科学和工程方面发展了一个新的重点，研究纳米尺度材料系统的合成，表征和模拟。目前，我们正在利用与佛罗里达大学和卡内基梅隆大学（CMU）的研究合作伙伴关系，以便利用他们的设施开展纳米结构材料的主要研究工作。虽然这已经提供了巨大的帮助，但目前我们的研究活动需要内部低千伏，纳米级分辨率的场发射扫描电子显微镜（FE-SEM）能力。FE-SEM提供的功能目前在我们的设施中是不可用的。这包括在纳米尺度上的成像、纹理和成分表征。例如，可以在15kV下获得超高分辨率（1.0 nm），在1kv下获得高分辨率（1.5nm），以纳米级精度绘制表面和近表面成分，并使用该设备对各种材料进行纳米纹理分析。一些将从FE-SEM收购中直接受益的研究项目包括：1)高强度碳纳米管基复合材料的合成、开发和表征，用于计算机cpu的基础研究和散热器应用；2)合金变形的基础研究，这将使我们能够发展晶体塑性的物理理论；3)超导体（如Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8）的磁场对准；4)细胞和组织工程；5)层压复合材料的纳米结构和纳米纹理的演变。这些复合材料在加工过程中受到严重的塑性变形，形成的亚微米结构无法用标准扫描电镜进行研究。FE-SEM的收购将加强FAMU和FSU在不同材料方面的努力，并为这些机构之间的众多跨学科研究活动提供一个有凝聚力的基础。有机会使用如此先进的设备将有助于我们吸引更多的学生对这一领域的兴趣。ppi在指导女性和少数民族学生方面有着良好的记录——目前有21名本科生和7名研究生参加了我们国家科学基金会资助的PREM项目。纳米技术涉及在微观和亚微观水平上研究材料的组成和行为。有了这台电子显微镜，我们将有能力把样品的结构放大到实际尺寸的一百万倍。有无数的应用将受益于这项研究，也许最有趣的是碳纳米管的发展。这些管非常薄（比人的头发小10000倍），重量轻，但非常坚固，这使它们有可能在许多工程领域取代现有的材料，例如航空航天工程或其他需要非常高强度重量比的应用。纳米技术在生物医学工程等其他领域也有很大的应用前景。通过购买这些设备而获得的扩展能力不仅有利于我们的研究，也有利于我们的教育项目。我们有大约50%的少数民族学生和25%的女学生，我们致力于提高工程劳动力中代表性不足的少数民族的比例。有机会使用这些最先进的设备将有助于我们对材料领域产生更多的兴趣，并为我们的学生进入劳动力市场做好更好的准备。

The level of research activities and education program in Materials Science has grown rapidly at the Florida A & M (FAMU) - Florida State University (FSU) College of Engineering has grown rapidly with the addition of several new faculty and scientists, and the development of new curriculum and research programs. We have developed a new focus in nanoscale science and engineering, studying the synthesis, characterization, and simulations of nanoscale materials systems. Currently, we are capitalizing on the research partnerships with University of Florida and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in order use their facilities to carry out major research work on nano-structured materials. While this has been of tremendous assistance, the current volume of our research activities necessitates an in-house low kV, nanoscale resolution Field Emission - Scanning Electron Microscope (FE-SEM) capability. The functionality provided by the FE-SEM is currently not available in our facility. This includes imaging, texture and composition characterizations at nanoscales. For example, it is possible to obtain ultra high resolution (1.0 nm) at 15kV, high resolution (1.5nm) at 1 kV, map surface and near surface composition with a nanoscale precision, and perform nano-texture analysis on various materials with the equipment. Some of the research projects that will benefit directly from the FE-SEM acquisition include: 1) Synthesis, development and characterization of high strength carbon nanotube based composites for basic research and heat sink applications in computer CPUs, 2) Fundamental studies of alloy deformation, which will enable us develop physical theory of crystal plasticity, 3) Magnetic field alignment of superconductors (e.g. Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8), 4) Cellular and tissue engineering, and 5) Evolution of nanostructure and nanotexture in laminate composites. These composites are subjected to severe plastic deformation during processing, and the sub-micron structure developed can not be studied using standard SEM. The acquisition of a FE-SEM will enhance the diverse materials efforts at FAMU and FSU, and provide a cohesive base for the multitude of interdisciplinary research activities among these institutions. The opportunity to work with such state of the art equipment will help us interest more students in this field. The PIs have a proven record of mentoring women and minority students - there are currently twenty one undergraduate and seven graduate students on our NSF funded PREM program. Nanotechnology involves the study of the composition and behavior of materials at the microscopic and submicroscopic level. With this electron microscope, we will have the capacity to magnify the structure of samples to up to one million times their actual size. There are countless applications that will benefit from this research, with perhaps the most interesting being the development of carbon nanotubes. These tubes are very thin (as much as 10,000 times smaller than a human hair) and light, yet are exceedingly strong, giving them the potential to replace current materials in many engineering areas, such as aerospace engineering or other applications where a very high strength to weight ratio is required. Nanotechnology also has great possibilities in other fields such as biomedical engineering. The expanded capabilities that will come through the acquisition of the equipment will not only benefit our research, but will also benefit our educational programs as well. With an enrollment of approximately 50% minority students and 25% female students, we are dedicated to increasing the percentage of underrepresented minorities in the engineering workforce. The opportunity to work with such state of the art equipment will help us interest more students in the materials field and will better prepare our students to enter the workforce.