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当材料被实时戳戳时会发生什么。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，发现新的现象，并设计新的材料。在这样做的过程中，他们希望通过包容性的课堂和外展活动来分享他们对材料科学的兴奋。基础仪器是可变压力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。该显微镜将被安置在密歇根材料表征中心，该中心是密歇根大学的共享用户设施，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。教师们将通过他们的多学科专业知识，创造一个协作的环境，在这里，实验与建模和计算相结合，在这里，整个本科教室解决了如何从显微镜数据集中挖掘复杂信息的挑战，在这里，小学年龄的孩子们自己操作扫描电子显微镜，并体验科学发现的喜悦。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，进行整合数据分析和建模方法的新颖实验。显微镜将使研究范围广泛的材料（金属，半导体，聚合物，生物材料，氧化物，体，薄膜，纳米结构），因此广泛的材料应用。其新颖之处在于互补探测器的组合，允许同时成像和分析，例如，量化在施加热载荷或变形下的相变动力学，量化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的氧化或腐蚀进行成像。该工具支持的实验工作将与信号处理工作相结合，开发新的数据分析工具、统计算法，并通过利用机器学习和数据挖掘来推进预测建模。显微镜将通过深入的课堂教学和最先进的表征技术的研究培训，对我们的本科生和研究生的继续教育至关重要。它还将用于为大量学生、博士后和外部用户开发更多功能和可扩展的教学机会。小学校长和高级职员将继续加强和扩大涉及少数族裔的活动，激发年轻学生对STEM的兴趣。

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.