MRI: Acquisition of an Atomic Force Microscope with Optical, Thermal, and Electrical Analysis Capabilities

主要研究仪器项目提供资金支持俄勒冈大学（UO）、俄勒冈州立大学（OSU）和波特兰州立大学（PSU）购买原子力显微镜仪器。该仪器将提供最先进的原子尺度分辨率、多模式表面成像（形貌、温度、磁化、电压、刚度等）和同步光学显微镜，这些是UO、OSU和PSU的研究人员目前无法获得的。该仪器将被安置在一个开放访问的共享半导体纳米制造和表征设施中，该设施是俄勒冈州UO先进材料表征中心（CAMCOR）的一部分，将由全职专业人员管理，并将供整个地区学术界和工业界的研究人员使用。该设备还将用于为UO的半导体器件和光伏、聚合物和光学硕士实习项目以及UO的先进材料分析和表征研究生项目开发新课程。这些项目吸引了来自美国各地的学生，并帮助提供训练有素的高科技劳动力来推动美国经济。此外，该仪器将通过CAMCOR整合到UO校园内广泛的公共宣传活动中，包括SAIL计划（低社会经济地位的高中生），SPICE计划（代表性不足的中学生）和本科生可持续材料研究培训（SMaRT）。在原子尺度上可视化、操纵和探测系统（如活细胞或半导体器件）的能力在我们探索物理、生物和生物医学科学中的紧迫问题中起着至关重要的作用。此外，在这种长度尺度上研究系统的能力，也被称为纳米尺度，在材料、生物技术、替代能源、交通运输和电子等不同领域的新技术的开发和工程中起着至关重要的作用。该仪器能够获取从金属、半导体、陶瓷到蛋白质、合成聚合物和活细胞等材料的原子分辨率的地形学、电学、热学和力学信息，同时通过倒置显微镜进行光学研究。该仪器提供单原子键水平的力谱，可以用作纳米制造的光刻工具。原子力显微镜将使化学、物理、生物和地质领域的一系列研究成为可能。用途包括研究固态量子比特中的电动力学、热和应变耦合，（光）电化学过程的原位研究，确定地质学中的方解石生长动力学，改进光伏的电子-空穴选择性测绘，液体中膜蛋白组装的测量，用于生物医学应用的新型聚合物的热性能表征。神经植入物仿生电子电路的电学模拟实验、电子显微镜波前工程光束的衍射电子光学研究、新型二维原子晶体的表征、复合金属电介质的增强光响应研究、有机半导体光学和光导特性的探索和设计、一维和二维材料的光电流测量、以及蛋白质结构的时间分辨动力学研究。

The Major Research Instrumentation program provides funds to support the University of Oregon (UO), Oregon State University (OSU), and Portland State University (PSU) with the acquisition of an atomic force microscope instrument. The instrument will provide state-of-the-art capabilities in atomic-scale resolution, multi-mode surface imaging (topography, temperature, magnetization, voltage, stiffness, etc.) and simultaneous optical microscopy that are not currently available to researchers at UO, OSU, and PSU. The instrument will be housed in an open-access, shared semiconductor nanofabrication and characterization facility, which is part of UO's Center for Advanced Materials Characterization in Oregon (CAMCOR), will be managed by full-time professional staff, and will be available for use by researchers in academia and industry throughout the region. The equipment will also be used to develop new curriculum for the UO Master's internship program tracks in semiconductor devices and photovoltaics, polymers, and optics, and the UO Advanced Materials Analysis and Characterization graduate program. These programs attract students from across the US and are helping to provide a trained high-tech workforce to drive the US economy. Furthermore, the instrument will be integrated into a broad range of established public outreach activities on the UO campus through CAMCOR including the SAIL program (low-SES high school students), the SPICE program (underrepresented middle school students), and Sustainable Materials Research Training (SMaRT) for undergraduates.The ability to visualize, manipulate, and probe systems, such as a living cell or a semiconductor device, at the atomic scale plays a vital role in our exploration of urgent questions across the physical, biological, and biomedical sciences. Furthermore, the ability to study systems at this length scale, also known as the nanoscale, holds an essential role in the development and engineering of new technologies in areas as distinct as materials, biotechnology, alternative energy, transportation, and electronics. The instrument has the capability to acquire atomic-resolution topographical, electrical, thermal, and mechanical information on materials ranging from metals, semiconductors, and ceramics, to proteins, synthetic polymers, and living cells, while concurrently performing optical studies via an inverted microscope. The instrument offers force spectroscopy on the level of single atomic bonds and can used as a lithography tool for nanofabrication. The AFM will enable a range of research across chemistry, physics, biology, and geology. Uses include the study of electrodynamic, thermal, and strain coupling in solid-state quantum bits, in situ studies of (photo)electrochemical processes, ascertaining calcite growth dynamics for geology, electron-hole selectivity mapping for improved photovoltaics, the measurement of membrane protein assemblies in liquids, the characterization of thermal properties of novel polymers for biomedical applications, electrical simulation experiments of bio-inspired electronic circuits for neural implants, the study of diffractive electron optics for wavefront-engineered beams in electron microscopes, characterization of novel two-dimensional atomic crystals, study of enhanced photo-response of composite metallodielectrics, exploration and design of optical and photoconductive properties of organic semiconductors, measuring photocurrents in one and two-dimensional materials, and time-resolved dynamical studies of protein structures.