MRI: Acquisition of a Scanning Electron Microscope for Real-time Studies of Novel Materials Processes and Functionality

密歇根大学、韦恩州立大学、东密歇根大学和密歇根州立大学的研究人员想要观察材料在被实时戳中时会发生什么。他们的共同目标是了解材料的结构和化学如何影响其性能，发现新现象，并设计新材料。通过这样做，他们希望通过包容性的课堂和外联活动来分享他们对材料科学的兴奋。该基石仪器是一种变压场发射枪扫描电子显微镜，配备了一套独特的互补成像和分析模式，将改变密歇根州东南部材料研究的广度和深度。该显微镜将放置在密歇根材料表征中心，这是密歇根大学的一个共享用户设施，为来自大底特律地区和密歇根州的学术和工业用户提供服务。通过他们的多学科专业知识，教师们将创造一个协作环境，实验与建模和计算相结合，整个本科课堂将解决如何从显微镜数据集中挖掘复杂信息的挑战，小学年龄的儿童将自己操作扫描电子显微镜，体验科学发现的兴奋。密歇根东南部的研究人员将利用该仪器提供的互补信号和时间分辨探测和测试的独特组合，进行集成数据分析和建模方法的新颖实验。该显微镜将能够研究范围广泛的材料(金属、半导体、聚合物、生物材料、氧化物、块体、薄膜、纳米结构)，从而实现广泛的材料应用。其创新之处在于互补检测器的组合，允许同时成像和分析，以便例如量化在外加热负荷或变形下的相变动力学，使用RS和Mono-CL定量III-N设备中的缺陷或地质材料中的杂质，或通过热和环境控制对表面进行图像氧化或腐蚀。该工具支持的实验工作将与信号处理工作相结合，以开发新的数据分析工具、统计算法，并利用机器学习和数据挖掘在预测建模方面取得进展。显微镜将对我们本科生和研究生的继续教育至关重要，因为它将用于最先进的表征技术的深入课堂教学和研究培训。它还将用于为大量学生、博士后和外部用户开发更多用途和可扩展的教学机会。PIS和高级人员将继续加强和扩大涉及代表人数不足的少数群体的活动，并在年轻学生中激发STEM的热情。

Researchers at the University of Michigan, Wayne State University, Eastern Michigan University, and Michigan State University want to watch what happens to materials when they are poked in real time. Their common goal is to understand how structure and chemistry of materials affect their properties, discover new phenomena, and design new materials. In doing so they want to share their excitement about materials science through inclusive classroom and outreach activities. The cornerstone instrument is a variable pressure field emission gun scanning electron microscope equipped with a unique set of complementary imaging and analysis modalities that will transform the breadth and depth of materials research in southeastern Michigan. The microscope will be housed in the Michigan Center for Materials Characterization, a University of Michigan shared user facility serving academic and industrial users from the greater Detroit area and State of Michigan. The faculty members, through their multidisciplinary expertise, will create a collaborative environment where experiments merge with modeling and computation, where an entire undergraduate classroom addresses the challenge of how to mine complex information from a microscopy dataset, and where elementary-school-age children operate a scanning electron microscope themselves and get to experience the exhilaration of scientific discovery.Researchers in the Southeastern Michigan will take advantage of the unique combination of complementary signals and time-resolved probing and testing offered by the instrument, to perform novel experiments integrating data analysis and modeling approaches. The microscope will enable investigation of a wide range of materials (metals, semiconductors, polymers, biomaterials, oxides, bulk, thin films, nanostructures) and therefore a wide range of materials applications. The novelty is in the combination of complementary detectors allowing simultaneous imaging and analysis in order to, for instance, quantify kinetics of phase transformation under applied thermal load or deformation, quantify defects in III-N devices or impurities in geological materials using RS and mono-CL, or image oxidation or corrosion of surfaces via thermal and environment control. The experimental work enabled by the tool will be integrated with signal processing efforts to develop new data analytic tools, statistical algorithms, and advances in predictive modeling by leveraging machine learning and data mining. The microscope will be critical to the continued education of our undergraduate and graduate students via its use for in-depth classroom teaching and research training in state-of-the-art characterization techniques. It will also be used to develop more versatile and scalable teaching opportunities for a large body of students, post-docs, and for external users. The PIs and senior personnel will continue to strengthen and expand activities involving underrepresented minorities and stimulate STEM excitement among young students.