Critical Source Replacements for an Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope and a Helium Ion Microscope

环境扫描电子显微镜和氦离子显微镜的关键源更换

• 批准号: RTI-2020-00008
• 负责人: Leung, Kam
• 金额: $ 6.7万
• 依托单位: University of Waterloo
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Research Tools and Instruments
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2019-01-01 至 2020-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=692465
• 关键词: Critical; Source; Replacements; Environmental; Scanning

This equipment application seeks the support for replacement of the field emission electron source in an environmental scanning electron microscope and of a field ionization tip in a helium ion microscope. The electron source and tip are the most essential parts of these microscopes because they provide the respective electron beam and ion beam for probing the samples. These two microscopes represent the core of the materials characterization facility for multidisciplinary materials research at the University of Waterloo. They provide state of the art imaging of the surface morphology and analysis of the surface electrical properties of new materials and devices at high spatial resolution and large depth of focus, and they also enable other sister techniques such as energy dispersive X-ray analysis to provide elemental composition analysis. Indeed, a wide range of materials, from semiconductor chips to fuel and solar cells to battery materials to bitumen to carbon nanotubes and graphenes to contact lens and to cancer cells, have been characterized using these microscopes by our users. These microscopes provide crucial information about the morphology, shapes, and elemental compositions of the nanostructures in new materials, structural transformation upon interaction with radiation and other processing, and surface electrical and other properties. Examination by electron or ion microscopy is often the very first step of the work flow in discovery of new materials and development of new devices. Continued functioning of these microscopes is therefore crucial to the survival of multiple materials science and engineering programs at Waterloo.******As the existing sources have already exceeded their useful lifetime (now generating only very low probe currents), the requested source/tip replacements will revive these microscopes and enable them to operate at near spec-on-site performance. These microscopes will serve the research needs of over 80 local research groups at the University of Waterloo and 30 academic groups from other Canadian universities. The source/tip replacements are critically needed for the continued survival of the diverse materials science and engineering research programs at Waterloo and over 100 thesis projects critically depend on these microscopes.**

本设备申请寻求替代环境扫描电子显微镜中的场发射电子源和氦离子显微镜中的场电离尖端的支持。电子源和尖端是这些显微镜最重要的部分，因为它们分别提供探测样品的电子束和离子束。这两台显微镜代表了滑铁卢大学多学科材料研究的材料表征设施的核心。它们在高空间分辨率和大聚焦深度下提供了最先进的表面形貌成像和新材料和器件的表面电学特性分析，并且它们还使其他姊妹技术（如能量色散x射线分析）能够提供元素成分分析。事实上，从半导体芯片到燃料和太阳能电池，从电池材料到沥青，从碳纳米管到石墨烯，从隐形眼镜到癌细胞，各种各样的材料都已经被我们的用户使用这些显微镜进行了表征。这些显微镜提供了关于新材料中纳米结构的形态、形状和元素组成、与辐射和其他处理相互作用时的结构转变、表面电学和其他性质的关键信息。电子或离子显微镜检查通常是发现新材料和开发新设备的第一步。因此，这些显微镜的持续运作对滑铁卢大学多个材料科学和工程项目的生存至关重要。******由于现有的源已经超过了它们的使用寿命（现在只产生非常低的探针电流），所要求的源/尖端更换将恢复这些显微镜，并使它们能够以接近现场规格的性能运行。这些显微镜将满足滑铁卢大学80多个当地研究小组和来自加拿大其他大学的30个学术小组的研究需求。来源/尖端的替换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，超过100个论文项目严重依赖于这些显微镜