Critical Accessories to put a Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscope in User Service

该设备申请寻求三个急需配件的支持，以使最先进的场发射扫描电子显微镜（SEM）不仅可以用作先进的成像工具，还可以用作定量元素分析的强大纳米分析工具。配备了新的第二代Gemini-II电子光学柱和多个先进的探测器系统，蔡司Merlin扫描电镜是一个强大的，超高分辨率的成像工具。凭借其精细的光束光斑和高电流能力，新型显微镜特别适合所需的能量色散x射线分析系统，允许用户以高精度和高速绘制近表面的元素组成。这种能力将显著提高现有纳米材料的成分分析。有了所需的附件，新的扫描电镜系统不仅可以缓解我们现有的15年的场发射扫描电镜系统的大量用户积压，而且还可以显著改善新材料的元素量化，提供详细的成分图，这是我们现有的扫描电镜系统无法做到的。目前的工具将满足滑铁卢大学75个本地研究小组和加拿大其他大学30个学术小组的研究需要。该请求还将提供一个负载锁定系统，以允许快速交换样品（这将提高效率并增加所服务的用户数量）和一个会计软件（这将使我们能够有效地执行成本回收，以便该设施可以以收入中性的方式运行）。该要求对于滑铁卢大学各种材料科学和工程研究项目的持续生存至关重要（至少有30个论文项目依赖于该仪器）。

This equipment application seeks the support for three critically needed accessories to enable a state-of-the-art field-emission scanning electron microscope (SEM) to be used not just as an advanced imaging tool but also as a powerful nanoanalytical tool for quantitative elemental analysis. Equipped with a new second-generation Gemini-II electron optics column and multiple advanced detector systems, the Zeiss Merlin SEM is a powerful, ultrahigh resolution imaging tool. With its fine beam spot and high current capability, the new microscope is particularly well suited to the requested energy-dispersive X-ray analysis system, allowing the user to map the elemental composition of the near-surface with high precision and high speed. This capability will significantly improve the composition analysis of the nanomaterials on hand. With the requested accessories, the new SEM system will not only relieve the huge user backlog on our existing 15-years-old field-emission SEM system on campus, it will also provide significant improvement in elemental quantification of new materials, providing detailed composition maps that are not possible with our existing SEM system. The present tool will serve the research needs of over 75 local research groups from the University of Waterloo and 30 academic groups from other Canadian universities. This request will also provide a load-lock system to allow fast sample interchange (that will improve the efficiency and increase the number of users served) and an accounting software (that will enable us to effectively perform cost recovery so that the facility can be run in a revenue-neutral fashion). The request is critically needed for the continued survival of the diverse materials science and engineering research programs at Waterloo (and at least 30 thesis projects depend on this instrument).