SBIR Phase I: Ultra Low Cost Electron Microscope

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将为学生和小企业开发一种非常低成本，易于使用的扫描电子显微镜（SEM）。该项目通过消除昂贵、复杂的高真空系统实现了这一目标。在传统的扫描电镜中，高真空系统防止了电子发射器的快速失效。第一阶段将开发一种创新的新型电子源，它具有长寿命和高性能，而不需要高真空系统。所提出的电子源保护发射器免受快速氧化和蒸发，即使在较差的真空条件下。这些新的电子源将在高真空和低真空环境下进行亮度和寿命评估。然后，源将在没有高真空系统的改进扫描电镜中进行评估。最后，将设计一种低成本，易于使用和性能良好的新型SEM。这种扫描电镜将具有相当的性能，现有的扫描电镜的成本大大降低。该项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力将是为学生和小型企业带来最重要的科学技术工具之一——电子显微镜。现有的电子显微镜体积大，使用困难，购买和维护费用昂贵。该项目旨在生产一种简单，坚固和廉价的扫描电子显微镜（SEM）。提议的SEM可以用于K-12学校，职业学校和小型学院以及无法负担目前SEM的小型企业。扫描电镜在制造“低技术”产品（如化妆品、纺织品和食品加工）和“高科技”产品（如微电子、医疗设备和药品）方面变得至关重要。获得SEM将使小企业在更好的流程和质量控制方面具有优势，使他们能够与已经拥有SEM的大公司竞争。学习如何使用SEM的学生将在寻找高科技工作方面具有优势。在小公司或大学从事研发工作的科学家和工程师将有机会使用先进技术的基本工具之一——扫描电镜。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop a very low-cost, easy to use scanning electron microscope (SEM) for students and small businesses that cannot afford them today. The project achieves this goal by eliminating the costly, complex high vacuum system. In traditional SEM's, the high vacuum system prevents rapid failure of the electron emitter. Phase I will develop an innovative new electron source that has long life and high performance without the need for a high vacuum system. The proposed electron source protects the emitter from rapid oxidation and evaporation even in poor vacuum conditions. These new electron sources will be evaluated for brightness and lifetime in both high vacuum and low vacuum environments. The sources will then be evaluated in a modified SEM without the high vacuum system. Finally, a new SEM will be designed for low cost, ease of use and good performance. This SEM will have comparable performance to existing SEM's at a substantially lower cost. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will be to bring one of the most important tools of science and technology - the electron microscope - to students and small businesses. Existing electron microscopes are large, difficult to use and expensive to buy and maintain. This project aims to produce a simple, rugged and inexpensive scanning electron microscope (SEM). The proposed SEM can be used in K-12 schools, vocational schools and small colleges as well as small businesses that cannot afford present-day SEM's. SEM's are becoming essential in manufacturing both "low-tech" products (e.g., cosmetics, textiles and food processing) and "high-tech" products (e.g., microelectronics, medical devices and pharmaceuticals). Access to a SEM will give small businesses an advantage for better process and quality control, enabling them to compete with larger companies that already have SEM's. Students who learn how to use a SEM will have an advantage seeking high-tech jobs. Scientists and engineers performing R&D at small companies or colleges will be have access to one of the basic tools of advanced technology, the SEM.