Surrey Multi-User Transmission Electron Microscope with X-ray Analysis and Tomography

透射电子显微镜技术为观察材料提供了独特的视角。它可以让研究人员在极高的放大倍数下看到固体内部，这样在最佳条件下就可以看到原子的排列。顾名思义，该仪器“传输”一束电子直接通过被研究的材料。这样，就可以研究材料的内部结构。利用这些传输的电子可以获得三种类型的信息：(i)透射电镜聚焦电子束（就像光学显微镜中的光一样），提供物理结构的图像，包括构成许多材料的晶体的形状和大小，以及原子尺度上的任何缺陷。（ii）电子可以被衍射（类似于从原子平面反射）以揭示原子在材料中的二维和三维排列方式。（iii）化学信息是通过电子在材料内部运动时发出的x射线提供的。萨里大学增加了一台现代透射电子显微镜（TEM），将使化学工程、化学、电子工程、材料科学、机械工程科学和物理学等学科的多样化研究成为可能。该仪器将包括x射线分析设备。它还将允许断层扫描，提供三维的样品可视化，通常是有机的或生物的来源。层析成像是通过使电子束从不同方向穿过样品而产生的。TEM将被安置在一个中心设施中，在那里它将得到很好的支持，并向整个大学社区开放。该工具每年将使数十名研究人员（包括研究生和早期职业学者）能够从事多学科项目。该显微镜将实现的研究示例包括：(i)开发更高效率的储能技术，（ii）创造新的可生物降解材料，（iii）增强工程材料和系统（如飞机或汽车）的性能，（iv）建立量子计算的实用性，(v)开发先进的药物输送和抗癌疗法。

The technique of transmission electron microscopy provides unique insight into materials. It allows researchers to see inside solids at extremely high magnifications, so that rows of atoms can be visualised under optimum conditions. As the name suggests, the instrument 'transmits' a beam of electrons directly through the material being studied. In this way, the internal structure of the material can be studied. There are three types of information obtained using these transmitted electrons: (i) TEM focuses the electron beam (just like the light in an optical microscope) to provides images of the physical structure, including the shapes and sizes of crystals that constitute many materials plus any defects at the atomic scale. (ii) The electrons can be diffracted (analogous to being reflected from planes of atoms) to reveal how the atoms are arranged in two and three dimensions in a material. (iii) Chemical information is provided via the X-rays that are emitted as the electrons travel within the material.The addition of a modern transmission electron microscope, or TEM, at the University of Surrey will enable diverse research across the disciplines of chemical engineering, chemistry, electronic engineering, materials science, mechanical engineering sciences, and physics. The instrument will include facilities for X-ray analysis. It will also allow tomography, which provides visualisation of samples, often of organic or biological origin, in three dimensions. Tomographic images are created by passing the electron beam through the sample from different directions.The TEM will be housed in a central facility, where it will be well supported and accessible to the entire University community. This instrument will enable many tens of researchers (including postgraduate students and early career academics), each year, to engage in multidisciplinary projects. Examples of the research, much of it supported by EPSRC, that this microscope will enable include: (i) developing higher efficiency energy storage technologies, (ii) creating new biodegradable materials, (iii) enhancing the performance of engineering materials and systems (such as for aircraft or automobiles), (iv) establishing the practicalities of quantum computing, (v) and developing advanced drug delivery and anti-cancer therapeutics.