Electron Microscopy for the Characterisation and Manipulation of Advanced Functional Materials and their Interfaces at the Nanoscale

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In 2013 we successfully applied to enhance electron microscopy at St Andrews through the Capital for Great Technologies scheme. The purpose of this new facility is to provide state of the art capability to analyse and control functional materials at the nanoscale to underpin and drive forward critical Materials research in Energy Materials, Catalysis, Photonics, Metamaterials and Electronics. All elements of the facility are well used and usage is expanding now that the new facilities have come on stream. Going forward, however, we are severely constrained by lack of facility operators. It is easy to project doubling or more of usage with a second skilled operator on the Scios and Titan in particular. Not only would this involve more operator time on the instruments, it would increase training time and afford more time for detailed studies.Thus the purpose of this application is to secure the appointment of a second skilled operator for two years to increase productivity and indeed capability through more rounded coverage. This will minimise down time due to holidays, allow more than one of the key facilities to be operated by our specialists for research and/or training at a single time and most importantly will provide the space to train more users to a higher standard.We also propose to increase the outreach of our facility in the region, holding two focused workshops and linking more strongly to Universities in our region. We also hope to link with the other major Materials Electron Microscopy Centre in Scotland to coordinate capabilities.An improved web-based booking system will be implemented.