MRI: Acquisition of a Tecnai TS 20 Field Emitter Transmission Electron Microscope

该奖项是根据2009年《美国复苏和再投资法案》(Public Law 111-5)资助的。技术摘要这份由布朗大学提出的核磁共振成像提案请求支持购买FEI Tecnai S20透射电子显微镜(TEM)，以满足当地研究界对纳米级成像和微/纳米表征的需求。拟议的仪器满足了布朗大学对现代电子显微镜成像工具的需求，该工具将允许进行常规材料科学研究，以了解用于电子、结构和生物应用的材料的微观结构，并在场发射器(FE)源可用的较低能量下的较高分辨率下，在生物医学和软物质物理中进行新的应用。该工具将所有成像和衍射模式的高性能与多用户材料研究环境中所需的操作简便性结合在一起，从而提供多功能性和灵活性，以满足我们多样化的研究社区的需求。它将使布朗大学物理科学系和其他系的教职员工和学生从事新的材料科学研究，包括工程、物理、化学、地质学、生物学、考古学和生物医学。一些正在进行的利用新的有限元电子显微镜的研究包括：研究钢的高应变率变形中形成的高度局域绝热剪切带的纳米尺度特征；创建用于生物分子分析的纳米孔原型设备结构；分析氧化物电子设备中使用的材料的界面和微观结构；了解通过新的化学途径制造的纳米线结构中与生长有关的晶体缺陷；以及用于鉴定考古玻璃样品来源的夹杂物的评估。更广泛地说，选定的仪器将为当地研究社区提供目前罗德岛州任何地方都无法获得的能力。非技术摘要布朗大学材料研究社区包括各种学科，这些学科在理解原子水平的材料方面有着共同的兴趣。购买现代透射电子显微镜将使工程、物理、化学、地质、生物学和考古学的研究人员能够对通过广泛的化学、冶金、物理和生物过程合成的材料的结构进行探测、成像和化学表征。上个世纪，人们发现，一束穿过薄薄样本的电子束将与样本--S原子--发生相互作用，这种相互作用提供了丰富的化学和结构洞察，同时提供了仅有几个原子或分子大小的特征的图像，这些特征是其他方法无法看到的。Brown和邻近研究界的研究人员将使用新型场发射器TEM(罗德岛唯一的场发射器)的功能来了解并最终控制广泛应用中使用的材料的纳米和微结构，Brown目前的研究将利用这一新能力包括：开发用于检测DNA和其他生物分子的设备、新型氧化物电子设备、电池和燃料电池材料，并且它将在开发既坚固又轻便的材料方面发挥关键作用，以提高汽车和航空航天应用中的能源效率。

0922667PaineBrown U."This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)."Technical AbstractThis MRI proposal by Brown University requests support for the acquisition of an FEI Tecnai S20 transmission electron microscope (TEM) to serve the nanoscale imaging and micro/nano-characterization needs of the local research community. The proposed instrument addresses the need at Brown for a modern TEM imaging tool that will allow both conventional materials science studies for the understanding of the microstructure of materials used in electronic, structural, and biological applications and, at the higher resolutions at lower energies available with a field emitter (FE) source, new applications in biomedical and soft-matter physics. This tool will provide both the versatility and flexibility to satisfy the needs of our diverse research community by combining high performance in all imaging and diffraction modes with the ease of operation needed in a multi-user materials research environment. It will enable new material sciences research pursued by the faculty and students in departments across the physical sciences and beyond at Brown, including Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Geology, Biology, Archaeology and Biomedicine. Some ongoing research that will make use of the new FE TEM includes: studies of the nanoscale features of highly localized adiabatic shear bands formed in high strain rate deformation of steel; creation of nanopore-based prototype device structures for biomolecule analysis; analysis of interfaces and microstructure in the materials used in oxide electronics; understanding growth-related crystallographic defects in nanowire structures fabricated via novel chemical pathways; and evaluation of inclusions for the identification of the origins of archeological glass samples. More broadly, the selected instrument will provide the local research community with a capability that is not currently available anywhere in the state of Rhode Island. Non-Technical AbstractThe Brown University materials research community encompasses a diversity of disciplines that share a common interest in understanding materials at the atomic level. The acquisition of a modern transmission electron microscope (TEM) will enable researchers in Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Geology, Biology, and Archaeology to probe, image, and chemically characterize the structure of materials synthesized through a wide range of chemical, metallurgical, physical and biological processes. In the last century, it was discovered that a beam of electrons passing through a thin sample will interact with the sample?s atoms in ways that provide a wealth of chemical and structural insights while simultaneously providing images of features that are just a few atoms or molecules in size and impossible to see by other means. Researchers at Brown and the neighboring research community will use the capabilities of the new field emitter TEM (the only one in Rhode Island) to understand and ultimately control the nano- and micro- structure of materials used in a wide array of applications, Current research at Brown that will utilize this new capability includes: development of devices for the detection of DNA and other biomolecules, new oxide-based electronic devices, battery and fuel cell materials, and it will play a key role in the development of materials that are both strong and lightweight for improved energy efficiency in automotive and aerospace applications.