Acquisition of a Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscope

9311302色拉芬这种场发射扫描电子显微镜将用于在纳米范围内表征材料的微观结构。首先将该仪器应用于高级陶瓷研究，我们将监测加热和冷却过程中添加剂的分布，这决定了最终产品的性能。为了建立合适的模型，有必要在烧结的早期阶段对纳米尺寸的添加剂颗粒及其在陶瓷粉末表面的分布进行成像。其次，在我们对碳纳米管的形貌和成品率的研究中，有必要检查弧光放电阴极上的碳质沉积，目的是优化工艺条件，以生产出所需形状和尺寸的碳团簇。第三个项目研究的是与骨骼和牙齿等天然材料具有相同结构的仿生复合材料。这项研究的目的是开发方法，将各种矿物生长成一种聚合物基质，其颗粒大小、形状和取向的尺寸特征与纳米范围内的天然材料相似。第四个项目通过使用表面受控的晶体成核来研究用于光学数据存储设备的平面波导中的散射损耗，从而检测和识别这些材料内部的散射中心。硅片上的铜污染将作为第五个项目区进行研究。再一次，沉积在纳米范围内，将在不同的加工条件下直接观察和识别。检查铜晶体及其相关的衬底腐蚀和溶解模式将有助于在半导体设备的化学加工过程中消除金属污染的策略。这五个项目将作为广泛的基本问题的范例，在这些问题中，FE-SEM的可用性将促进相关材料的研究。来自医学研究、生物化学、生物技术、地球科学、光学等领域的其他项目将迅速加入这五个领域的行列，这是一个至关重要的问题，特别是在相关基本过程的早期阶段。技术感兴趣的领域将通过相关研究取得进展，从工业进步的角度来看，收购这一强大的仪器是一个恰当的理由。***

9311302 Seraphin This field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) will be for the characterization of the microstructure of materials in the nanometer range. Applying first the instrument to advanced ceramic studies, we will monitor the distribution of additives during heating and cooling that determines the properties of the final product. In order to develop appropriate models, it is essential to image during the early phase of sintering the additive particles of nanometer size, and their distribution on the surface of the ceramic powder. Secondly, in our studies of the morphology and yield of carbon nanotubes, it is essential to examine the carbonaceous deposits on the cathode of the arcdischarge with the purpose of optimizing the processing conditions for the production of a desired shape and size of the carbon clusters. A third project examines biomimetic composites with the same architecture as natural materials such as bones and teeth. The study aims at the development of methods to grow various minerals into a polymer matrix of the dimensional characteristics of particle sizes, shapes and orientation that resembles the natural material in the nanometer range. A fourth project investigates the scattering losses in planar waveguides used in optical data storage devices through the use of controlled crystal nucleation at the surfaces, detecting and identifying thus scattering centers in the interior of these materials. Copper contamination on silicon wafers will be studied as the fifth project area. The deposits, once again in the nanometer range, will be directly observed and identified under various processing conditions. Examining the copper crystals and their associated substrate corrosion and dissolution patterns will facilitate strategies that eliminate metal contamination during chemical processing of semiconductor devices. The five projects will serve as examples for the wide range of fundamental issues in which the availabi lity of the FE-SEM will advance related materials research. Additional projects will rapidly join these five, taken from medical research, biochemistry, biotechnology, geoscience, optical orders of magnitudes smaller than before, is of vital issue, especially in the early phases of related fundamental processes. Areas of technological interest will advance through the related research, giving the acquisition of this powerful instrument a proper justification in terms of industrial advances. ***