MRI: Development of an Ultrafast Electron Microscope with <1nm-ps Spatio-Temporal Resolution

MRI：超快电子显微镜的开发

• 批准号: 0619573
• 负责人: W. Andreas Schroeder
• 金额: $ 38.61万
• 依托单位: University of Illinois at Chicago
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-09-01 至 2010-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0619573&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: MRI; Development; Ultrafast; Electron; Microscope

Technical AbstractA collaboration of scientists will develop a functional prototype ultrafast electron microscope (UEM) with less than 1nm-ps space-time resolution at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). To achieve this improvement over current instrumentation technology by three orders of magnitude, several existing state-of-the-art technologies will be combined: a high-power, 1-100MHz, femtosecond laser system will be used to generate an initially spatially coherent electron pulse from a large-area nano-patterned photocathode; a short (20cm) microscope column, if necessary incorporating an RF pulse compression cavity, will be coupled to the objective, sample stage, and projector system of an available decommissioned JEOL JEM 100CX electron microscope; and the generated electron images will be detected using 10um-pore micro-channel plate electron detector optically-coupled to a 25um-pixel, 1kx1k, CCD camera - providing the potential of atomic resolution. The unprecedented space-time resolution afforded by the development of this UEM will clearly provide an important new research tool for a diverse and interdisciplinary set of research fields: molecular biology, catalysis, condensed matter and materials physics, and nanoscience and nanotechnology. Once developed, the world-wide scientific community will have access to the instrument through the Research Resources Center at UIC; thus, also facilitating new collaborative research between institutions and providing unique educational opportunities for students. Lay AbstractThe direct visualization of dynamic phenomena has historically led to a deeper understanding of the fundamental properties and physical laws of nature. On the nanoscale (dimensions more than 1000 times smaller than the diameter of a hair), these rudimentary dynamics often occur on very short timescales; typically requiring observation with a temporal resolution of better than a picosecond (the time taken by light to travel the thickness of a business card). By combining state-of-the-art short-pulse laser and electron microscope technologies, the collaboration centered at the University of Illinois at Chicago aims to develop an "ultrafast electron microscope" with the unprecedented space-time resolution required to study the basic transient properties of individual nanoscale systems for the first time. The future availability of such an instrument to scientists will lead to significant advances in the important area of nanoscience and nanotechnology; for example, by determining the operation of catalysts (both biological and chemical) to improve their efficiency and by elucidating the influence of defects (or nanoscale interfaces) on the properties (e.g., strength) of modern materials under dynamic stress. The interdisciplinary aspect of both in the instrument development and its use will also provide important and valuable educational opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students alike - the nation's future scientific and technological human resource.

技术摘要：科学家的合作将在芝加哥的伊利诺斯大学（UIC）开发一个功能原型超快电子显微镜（UEM），其时空分辨率小于1 nm-ps。 为了实现比现有仪器技术提高三个数量级的改进，将结合几种现有的最先进的技术：高功率，1- 100 MHz，飞秒激光系统将用于从大面积纳米图案化光阴极产生初始空间相干电子脉冲;将一个短（20 cm）显微镜柱（如有必要，包含RF脉冲压缩腔）与一台已退役的JEOL JEM 100 CX电子显微镜的物镜、样品台和投影仪系统连接;并且所产生的电子图像将使用10 μ m孔微通道板电子检测器来检测，所述电子检测器光学耦合到25 μ m像素、1 kx 1 k的CCD照相机-提供原子分辨率的潜力。 这种UEM的发展所提供的前所未有的时空分辨率显然将为各种跨学科的研究领域提供重要的新研究工具：分子生物学，催化，凝聚态物质和材料物理学，以及纳米科学和纳米技术。 一旦开发出来，世界各地的科学界将通过UIC的研究资源中心获得该仪器;因此，也促进了机构之间的新的合作研究，并为学生提供了独特的教育机会。 从历史上看，动态现象的直接可视化使人们对自然的基本性质和物理定律有了更深入的理解。 在纳米尺度上（尺寸比头发直径小1000倍以上），这些基本的动力学通常发生在非常短的时间尺度上;通常需要观察时间分辨率优于皮秒（光传播名片厚度所需的时间）。 通过结合最先进的短脉冲激光和电子显微镜技术，以芝加哥伊利诺伊大学为中心的合作旨在开发一种具有前所未有的时空分辨率的“超快电子显微镜”，以首次研究单个纳米级系统的基本瞬态特性。 未来科学家可以使用这种仪器，这将导致纳米科学和纳米技术这一重要领域的重大进展;例如，通过确定催化剂（生物和化学）的操作来提高其效率，并通过阐明缺陷（或纳米级界面）对性能（例如，现代材料在动态应力下的强度。 仪器开发及其使用的跨学科方面也将为研究生和本科生提供重要而宝贵的教育机会-国家未来的科技人力资源。