MRI: Acquisition of a Scanning Electron Microscope for Undergraduate Research at Coe College

技术摘要扫描电子显微镜将用于跨越物理、化学、地质学和生物学的各种研究项目。使用这一工具将使我们的教职员工、学生和外部合作者能够在我们各自的研究领域获得新的见解；对我们目前无法研究的长度尺度的材料进行成像；培训我们的本科生使用基本的材料表征工具；并填补我们设备基础中的关键利基。特别是，扫描电子显微镜将在COE学院用于研究玻璃材料的激光损伤、腐蚀和磨损；生物水泥；以及细菌的矿物质沉积。康奈尔大学的合作者将在地质研究中使用该仪器观察锆石颗粒，以及在生物工作中观察苍蝇的形态差异。每年，COE学院的5个研究小组(约6名教员和30名COE学生)、7名REU现场参与者和多达4名康奈尔学院教职员工与他们的本科生一起使用扫描电子显微镜。扫描电子显微镜还将通过在COE的材料物理和化学、光学和微生物学以及康奈尔大学的矿物学和岩石学等课程中的使用来影响学生。一般摘要观察微小世界已经成为用各种材料进行研究的基本要素。科学院的扫描电子显微镜将使我们的科学家能够观察到比人类头发还小的激光“烧伤痕迹”，以及看起来像干燥的沙漠景观的破裂玻璃表面。这些图像将促进我们对材料的理解，这些材料有朝一日可能被用来存储计算机内存，开发更好的粘合剂，改进商业玻璃，或了解有助于清洁自然环境的细菌。我们的显微镜还可以让我们看到样品的化学成分是否不同，即使是在很小的区域和距离上的变化。但最重要的是，这台显微镜将有助于实现一个无价的目标：培养我们的大学生成为对国家福祉至关重要的科学技术领域的未来领导者。

Technical abstract The scanning electron microscope (SEM) will be used in a variety of research projects spanning physics, chemistry, geology, and biology. Use of this instrument will enable our faculty, students, and external collaborators to obtain new insights in our respective areas of investigation; to image materials over length scales that we are currently unable to study; to train our undergraduate students in an essential material characterization tool; and to fill a critical niche in our equipment base. In particular, the SEM will be used at Coe College to look at laser damage, corrosion, and abrasion of glassy materials; at biocements; and at the mineral deposits of bacteria. Cornell College collaborators will use the instrument to look at zircon grains in geological research, as well as morphological differences in flies in biological work. Every year, the SEM will be used by 5 research groups at Coe College (~6 faculty with 30 Coe students), 7 REU site participants, and as many as 4 Cornell College faculty working with their undergraduates. The SEM will also impact student through its use in courses ranging from Materials Physics and Chemistry, Optics, and Microbiology at Coe to Mineralogy and Petrology from Cornell.General abstract Looking at the world of the very small had become an essential element of doing research with materials of every sort. The Scanning Electron Microscope at Coe College will allow our scientists to look at laser "burn marks" smaller than a human hair and to see cracked glass surfaces that look like a dried desert landscape. These images will advance our understanding of materials that could, someday, be used to store computer memories, to develop better adhesives, to improve commercial glasses, or to understand bacteria that help clean natural environments. Our microscope will also permit us to see if samples differ in their chemical make-up, even if the changes are over tiny areas and distances. But most importantly, this microscope will help in an invaluable goal: to train our college students to become the future leaders in fields of science and technology essential to the welfare of the nation.