MRI: Acquisition of an FEI Helios Focused Ion Beam and Scanning Electron Microscope Workstation

斯坦福大学获得了由FEI公司制造的Helios NanoLab 600i双光束聚焦离子束/扫描电子显微镜。太阳神提供了前所未有的能力来制造和表征二维和三维纳米级物体。它将使斯坦福大学的30多个研究小组能够解决纳米科学和纳米技术方面的重大挑战。例如，太阳神号将支持以下研究工作：创造可以捕获单个原子的等离子光学镊子；在早期发现癌症；创造第一个集成电路，可以作为一个有效的太赫兹辐射源；发展效率更高的有机太阳能电池和迁移率更高的有机晶体管；确定神经元如何在大脑中相互沟通；并且，阐明决定拓扑绝缘体行为的量子力学现象。Helios还将使许多科学家能够为透射电子显微镜制备更高质量的样品，因为它可以用低能量（500 eV）离子束制备片层。因此，研究人员将能够充分利用最先进的像差校正透射电子显微镜，该显微镜可以以低于-Ångstrom的分辨率对样品进行成像。Helios将驻留在斯坦福纳米中心（SNC），这是一个共享用户设施，来自公司，国家实验室和其他学术机构的外部用户将可以访问。此外，它将成为国家纳米技术基础设施网络（NNIN）的一部分。北加州没有一个开放的实验室拥有像太阳神一样先进的聚焦离子束仪器。斯坦福大学的研究人员将与FEI公司合作，实现国内外用户对太阳神号的完全远程控制。太阳神将在斯坦福日（Stanford Days）和纳米日（Nanodays）等公共推广活动中展出，其功能将与少数族裔服务机构共享，以促进未来的合作。

This award to Stanford University is for the acquisition of a Helios NanoLab 600i dual-beam Focused Ion Beam / Scanning Electron microscope manufactured by the FEI Company. The Helios offers unprecedented capabilities for fabricating and characterizing two- and three-dimensional nanoscale objects. It will enable more than thirty Stanford research groups to address grand challenges in nanoscience and nanotechnology. For example, the Helios will support research efforts to: create plasmonic optical tweezers that can trap single atoms; detect cancer in its earliest stages; create the first integrated circuit that can serve as an efficient source of terahertz radiation; develop organic solar cells with higher efficiency and organic transistors with higher mobility; determine how neurons communicate with each other in the brain; and, elucidate the quantum mechanical phenomena that determine the behavior of topological insulators. The Helios will also enable a broad range of scientists to prepare higher-quality samples for transmission electron microscopy because it prepares lamellae with a low-energy (500 eV) ion beam. As a result, researchers will be able to take full advantage of state-of-the-art aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopes that can image samples with sub-Ångstrom resolution. The Helios will reside within the Stanford Nano Center (SNC), a shared user facility, where external users from corporations, national laboratories, and other academic institutions will have access. In addition, it will be part of the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network(NNIN). No open laboratory in northern California contains a Focused Ion Beam instrument as advanced as the Helios. Researchers at Stanford will collaborate with the FEI Company to implement full remote control by domestic and international users of the Helios. The Helios will be featured in public outreach events such as Stanford Days and Nanodays, and its capabilities will be shared with minority-serving institutions in an effort to catalyze future collaborations.