Case for a Field Emission Gun Analytical Transmission Electron Microscope

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Electron and Scanning Probe Microscopies (EM and SPM) are critical techniques for researchers involved in materials science. Scanning electron and atomic force microscopes, which allow the surfaces of materials to be probed, are more widely available both in academia and industry due to their lower operational costs. Transmission electron microscopes (TEM), which allow the imaging of both the external and internal structure of materials at resolutions at least an order of magnitude better than SEMs, are generally more expensive and hence less widely available. TEMs are available in numerous configurations dependent on the specific nature of the materials under investigation. Recent advances in instrument and detector design have dramatically improved the analytical capabilities of TEMs such that they are essential instruments to support pioneering studies on nanostructured materials.Understanding how chemically derived processes control the construction and organization of matter across nanoscopic length scales is of critical importance in diverse areas of materials research. Although many areas of nanoscience are burgeoning, there remains an urgent need to develop coherent and robust strategies towards the synthetic construction of functional nano-objects and nanostructures. In particular, the systematic design of nanoscale architectures from programmable components that collectively produce integrated functions has great transformative potential in key emerging fields such as bioelectronics, energy storage, sensing, nanoplasmonics, drug delivery and high performance green catalysis. The requested field emission gun analytical transmission electron microscope [FEG-ATEM] will provide the sub nm resolution demanded to fill our current analytical information gap so that scientific ambitions in these research areas are not constrained. The instrument forms part of a strategic investment in advanced microscopy provision at Bristol, and is the centrepiece of ambitions for an internationally competitive materials characterization facility befitting the world-leading research it underpins.