Acquisition of a Cyber-Enabled Multi-User Scanning Electron Microscope

该奖项由2009年《美国复苏和再投资法案》(Public Law 111-5)资助。在化学研究仪器和设施：多用户计划(CRIF：MU)的支持下，托莱多大学化学系将获得一台网络控制的冷阴极场发射扫描电子显微镜，具有能量色散X射线能谱单元、三个用于表面形貌和/或Z衬度成像的电子探测器，以及电子束感应电流成像能力。这种显微镜将被托莱多大学的研究人员以及俄亥俄州的邻近机构用来研究技术先进的材料的性质。这些研究包括：(1)复合负热膨胀材料的性质；(2)非晶态和纳米晶硅光伏材料和器件以及薄膜光伏材料的性质；(3)电化学传感器的表征；(4)微萃取采样装置的表征；以及(5)纳米结构材料的研究。显微镜将被大量的本科生和研究生使用，无论是在教学环境中还是在研究中。通过网络支持和其他方式，该仪器的使用范围将扩大到邻近大学和高中的学生，包括一些在家接受教育的学生。扫描电子显微镜，如本奖项购买的那台，使化学家能够以极高的空间分辨率和额外的化学和电子表征能力来探测材料的结构。在探索纳米材料的化学和物理性质时，特别需要这种详细程度，因为化学异质性恰好在这些长度尺度上发生变化。如果没有这种程度的细节，新型纳米材料的进展将会缓慢得多。用这笔赠款提供的基础设施将用于在重要的、尖端的实验方法方面对广泛的年轻科学家进行教学和培训。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).With support from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities: Multiuser program (CRIF:MU), the Department of Chemistry at the University of Toledo will acquire a cyber-enabled, cold cathode field emission scanning electron microscope, with an energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy unit, three electron detectors for surface topography and/or Z-contrast imaging, and electron beam-induced-current imaging capability. The microscope will be used by researchers at University of Toledo, as well as by neighboring institutions in Ohio to study the properties of technologically advanced materials. These studies include: (1) the properties of composite negative thermal expansion materials; (2) the properties of amorphous and nanocrystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) materials and devices, as well as thin film PV materials; (3) the characterization of electrochemical sensors; (4) the characterization of microextraction sampling devices; and (5) studies of nanostructured materials. The miroscope will be used by large numbers of undergraduate and graduate students, both in instructional settings as well as in research. Access to the instrument will be widened, via cyber-enabling and other means, to students in neighboring colleges and high-schools, including a number of home-schooled students.Scanning electron microscopes, like the one purchased under this award, allow chemists to probe the structure of materials with extraordinarily high spatial resolution and with additional chemical and electronic characterization capabilities. This level of detail is especially needed when probing the chemical and physical properties of nanoscale materials, where the chemical heterogeneity changes at precisely these length scales. Without this level of detail, the progress towards new kinds of nanoscale materials will be made much more slowly. The infrastructure made available with this grant will be used in teaching and training a broad range of young scientists in important, cutting-edge, experimental methods.