Acquisition of a Field Emission Gun Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope for Research and Education in Materials Science

该补助金支持购买场发射枪环境扫描电子显微镜（ESEM-FEG）。此次收购的智力价值在于研究，特别是与生物医学材料组件，纳米颗粒，金属和合金，陶瓷，复合材料，玻璃，光子材料，氧化现象，薄膜以及材料与生命系统之间的相互作用有关。该仪器能够以比目前更高的分辨率和准确度表征试样的微观结构和化学成分。例如，ESEM-FEG允许进行动态加热和冷却实验，观察纳米级水平上发生的反应。新的显微镜将被安置在一个专门的和新装修的实验室在校园。生物材料工业外展服务中心（BIOS）为购买和维护ESEM-FEG提供部分资金。此次收购的更广泛的影响包括教育进步Au工程和科学计划，通过国家的最先进的仪器在材料科学的所有领域，包括生物细胞，细胞/基质接口，和材料/外部介质接口。总体而言，收购ESEM-FEG将有利于Au的研究和教学，使本科生和研究生都可以使用最先进的表征工具作为他们的课程和研究活动的一部分。一个多样化的群体，包括少数民族和女教师和学生，将使用ESEM-FEG。该仪器将Au显微镜设施升级到最先进的水平，有利于本科和研究生教学，鼓励大学内的跨学科研究，并吸引当地高中生从事科学和工程职业。

This grant supports the acquisition of a field emission gun environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM-FEG). The intellectual merit of this acquisition is in research, particularly related to biomedical materials components, nanoparticles, metals and alloys, ceramics, composites, glasses, photonic materials, oxidation phenomena, thin films, and the interactions between materials and living systems. The instrument enables the microstructure and chemical composition of specimens to be characterized at a higher resolution and accuracy than presently available. For instance the ESEM-FEG allows dynamic heating and cooling experiments to be performed with observation of reactions occurring on the nanoscale level. The new microscope will be housed in a dedicated and newly renovated laboratory on campus. The Biomaterials Industrial Outreach Services (BIOS) Center provides partial funding towards the purchase and maintenance of the ESEM- FEG. The broader impacts of this acquisition include education advancement in AU engineering and science programs through state-of-the-art instrumentation used in all areas of materials science, including biological cells, the cell/matrix interface, and the material/exterior medium interface. Overall, acquisition of this ESEM-FEG will benefit research and teaching at AU by making state-of-the-art characterization tools available to both undergraduate and graduate students as part of their curriculum and research activities. A diverse group, including minorities and women faculty and students, will use the ESEM-FEG. This instrument upgrades the AU microscopy facilities to state-of-the-art level, benefiting both undergraduate and graduate teaching, encouraging interdisciplinary studies within the University, and attracting local high school students to careers in science and engineering.