MRI: Acquisition of a Focused Ion Beam Scanning Electron Microscope

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This Major Research Instrumentation award supports the acquisition of a dual-beam focused ion beam (FIB)/scanning electron microscope (SEM). The dual-beam FIB/SEM uses an ion beam to cut and shape solid materials at the nanometer size scale for making small samples for microscopy studies and for micro- and nano-scale property measurements. An electron beam is used in parallel with the ion beam to create scanning electron microscopy images of the material as the ion beam slices and/or shapes the solid. In order to handle the tiny specimens created using the ion beam, the instrument will have a nano-manipulator comprising a fine needle tip that can be welded to the sample, and the sample can then be removed and sent to another microscope for property measurements. The ability to slice, section, and shape solids with nanoscale resolution will enable students to understand microstructures, phases and interfaces in their lab-based courses that use the instrument. Education on campus will be strengthened by incorporating the FIB into three courses including one of the required undergraduate laboratory courses and into senior thesis and graduate-level research. Students, postdocs and faculty from diverse scientific disciplines will make daily use of the FIB, yielding a total user pool of ~150 unique users per year. In addition, the FIB will be professionally marketed for use by industry and is expected to draw additional industrial users to campus. The instrument will also be incorporated into our campus tours and outreach efforts, where nanoscale science may help attract young people’s interest in science and engineering during high school visits and similar on-campus engineering events.The dual-beam focused ion beam (FIB)/scanning electron microscope (SEM) with enhanced backscattered electron detector, gas injection system, and nanomanipulator acquired with this Major Research Instrumentation award will strengthen education and research activities as well as bolster federal, state and industrial research. The FIB will enable versatile sample preparation for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies as well as opening new avenues to extend current research to include measurement of micro-scale anisotropic properties, interfaces and phase boundaries using FIB-prepared sections. The instrument will support multi-disciplinary research and education programs including ceramic, glass, metal, biomaterials, chemistry and geology/geochemistry studies at Alfred University. FIB sample preparation is key in the study of advanced materials, for example studies of sub-surface and internal defects and localized plastic deformation, linking creation of flaws to additive manufacturing and processing conditions, and tracking subtle changes in microstructure and chemistry at internal and external surfaces and interfaces. As such, the requested FIB will become a centerpiece in making transformational progress in the ceramics-centric areas of education and research at Alfred University.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.