Acquisition of a tabletop SEM/EDS system at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette

该仪器和设施奖支持路易斯安那大学拉斐特分校地球科学学院购买桌面分析扫描电子显微镜[SEM]，以推进在校本科生/研究生教育，并支持STEAM[科学、技术、工程、艺术、数学]学科的研究。由于它的电子束，扫描电子显微镜与光学显微镜相比具有独特的固有优势：更大的放大倍数，更清晰的图像和化学识别。可以在几分钟内对包括木材、骨骼、化石、岩石和矿物在内的各种材料进行成像和分析。该仪器将用于环境研究、石油地质和采矿地质的高级研究。通过互联网连接，现场操作员可以远程访问教统局，以便在校园的教室里进行演示，以及在中学进行科学演示。这种连接将允许来自代表性不足群体的大量学生参与材料的现场探索。最好的高分辨率图像将以大幅面打印出来，作为校园科学和艺术展览的一部分。扫描电子显微镜仪器将使主要研究人员和他们的研究生能够获得高质量的数字图像，并将促进对样本的互动探索。新的，最先进的桌面扫描电子显微镜，包括一个现代的能量分散(EDS)探测器，提供快速的定量化学分析。该仪器将支持伦敦大学拉斐特分校新的地球和能源科学跨学科博士项目。扫描电子显微镜+能谱分析系统及其新的微观分析能力将使科学家能够对六个目标项目进行研究：1)断层岩同震变形的微观结构记录；2)大陆地壳中部流体在应变局部化中的作用；3)化石木材中气候/碳循环变化的记录；4)湖泊中沉淀碳酸盐中气候变化的化学记录；5)甲烷氧化微生物群落的生死与甲烷排放的关系；6)路易斯安那州中部的矿物学记录，记录了6500万年前导致恐龙死亡的小行星撞击。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Instrumentation and Facilities award supports the School of Geosciences at University of Louisiana at Lafayette with the acquisition of a tabletop analytical Scanning Electron Microscope [SEM] to advance on-campus undergraduate/graduate education and support research in STEAM [Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics] disciplines. Thanks to its electron beam, SEM has distinct inherent advantages over optical microscopy: larger magnification, sharper images and chemical identification. A broad range of materials including wood, bones, fossils, rocks and minerals can be imaged and analyzed within a few minutes. The instrument will be used for advanced research in environmental studies, petroleum geology, and mining geology. The SEM will be remotely accessible through an internet connection, with an on-site operator, for demonstrations in classroom on campus and in secondary schools for science demonstrations. This connectivity will allow a large number of students from under-represented groups to participate in live exploration of materials. The best, high resolution images will be printed in large format to be displayed as part of science & art exhibitions on campus.The SEM instrument will allow the main investigators and their graduate students to acquire high quality digital imagery and will promote interactive exploration of the samples. The new, state of the art tabletop SEM, includes a modern energy dispersive (EDS) detector that provides rapid quantitative chemical analyses. This instrument will support the new interdisciplinary PhD program in Earth and Energy Sciences at UL Lafayette. The SEM+EDS system and its new microanalytical capabilities will enable scientists to conduct research on six targeted projects: 1) the microstructural record of co-seismic deformation in fault rock; 2) the roles of fluids in strain localization in the middle of the continental crust; 3) the record of climate/carbon cycle change in fossil wood; 4) the chemical record of climate change in precipitated carbonates in lakes; 5) life and death of methane-oxidizing microbial communities in relation with methane emissions; 6) the mineralogical record, in central Louisiana, of the asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.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.