MRI-R2: Acquisition of a Field Emission SEM for a Multi-User EM Facility

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). Funds from the NSF MRI-R2 program have been award to San Diego State University for the purchase of a Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) equipped with variable pressure capability, digital image capture and 3D measurement software, X-ray microanalysis detector and software, backscatter detector, enhanced variable pressure secondary electron detector, and cathodoluminescence detector, as well as a high resolution sputter coater for SEM sample preparation. The FESEM is housed in the Electron Microscope Facility in the Department of Biology at SDSU. The FESEM enables morphological and chemical studies including: description of unicellular photosynthetic cells; arachnid systematics; geochronology and provenance studies; carbon nanotube composites and microsintering; and powder technology. The data collected with the FESEM therefore provides new insights into diverse fields of biology, engineering, and geological sciences and expands our capabilities into new areas of research and teaching. The student body at SDSU is highly diverse ethnically. Many students gain experience with high technology instrumentation at the SDSU EM Facility. Incoming students and majors tour the Facility to see the instrumentation in operation. Upper division classes incorporate this equipment into student laboratory exercises; undergraduate and graduate students operate the equipment and are involved in research projects. Student-researchers become co-authors, publish in peer-reviewed journals, and present their results at local and national scientific meetings. The new FESEM is also used in regional outreach projects and can send live SEM images to the next generation of scientists at Clear View Elementary School, 20 miles away in Chula Vista, CA. Additional details are available at http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/emfacility.