MRI: Acquisition of a Field Emission Gun Energy Filtered Transmission Electron Microscope

该奖项授予位于阿默斯特的马萨诸塞州大学，用于获得200 kV场发射枪，柱内能量过滤透射电子显微镜（FEG-EFTEM）。 能量过滤通过零损失过滤和元件特异性成像实现了上级图像对比度，代表了电子显微镜表征的最新技术水平。 所提出的FEG-EFTEM的硬件和软件组件包括用于纳米级结构的3D重建的电子断层扫描功能。 此外，该仪器还具有检测水溶液中低温制备样品的能力，可用于检测水中的生物衍生纳米结构和合成软材料。 FEG-EFTEM将影响麻省大学和合作机构的广泛研究人员，并将广泛提供给美国和国际研究人员在许多学科，包括聚合物，纳米复合材料，软材料，生物学和相关主题。 麻省大学的研究生、本科生和博士后研究人员，代表30多个不同的研究小组，将在许多项目中使用FEG-EFTEM，包括：表征有序嵌段共聚物作为纳米结构材料的模板;直接在非挥发性离子液体中成像聚合物聚集和相行为;研究聚合物纳米棒和线的螺旋形态;了解共轭聚合物和纳米复合材料中的相分离;细菌燃料电池成像; DNA复制的直接成像。 新的FEG-EFTEM将在许多社区产生广泛的影响。 该工具将广泛提供给整个马萨诸塞大学校园的研究人员，以及当地的本科学院，包括所有妇女的山霍利奥克和史密斯学院，以及合作机构，如霍华德大学和波多黎各大学-里奥皮德拉斯。 通过NSF资助的材料研究设施网络（MRFN），该仪器将可供美国各地的研究人员使用，显著增强MRFN的可访问TEM能力。 该仪器将通过将其整合到聚合物表征和聚合物形态学的核心课程中作为中心教学工具，大大提高教育水平，同时允许通过引入电子显微镜研究生课程来扩展课程，并在FEG-EFTEM上进行广泛的实践培训。 此外，FEG-EFTEM将有利于K-12和研究经验的教师（RET）在马萨诸塞州的各种NSF和DOE中心的推广活动，与电子断层扫描的三维图像重建提供了一个引人入胜的和指导性的材料，适合融入课堂教学的观点为年轻学生。 ASPIRE（一个学生主导的研究和教育计划），将高中生带到校园，在星期六进行基于实验室的聚合物计划，将展示FEG-EFTEM的3D断层扫描功能，从而大大增强了该计划的长期电子显微镜单元。

This award to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst is for the acquisition of a 200kV, field emission gun, in-column energy filtered transmission electron microscope (FEG-EFTEM). Energy filtering enables superior image contrast by zero-loss filtering and element specific imaging, representing the state-of-the-art in electron microscopy characterization. The hardware and software components of the proposed FEG-EFTEM include electron tomography capabilities for 3D-reconstruction of nanoscale structures. Moreover, the instrument includes capabilities for examining cryogenically prepared samples from aqueous solution, appealing for biologically-derived nanostructures and synthetic soft materials in water. The FEG-EFTEM will impact a broad range of researchers at UMass and partner institutions, and will be available broadly for U.S. and international researchers in numerous disciplines, including polymers, nanocomposites, soft materials, biology, and related topics. Graduate, undergraduate, and postdoctoral researchers at UMass, representing well over 30 different research groups, will use the FEG-EFTEM in numerous projects, including: characterizing ordered block copolymers as templates for nanostructured materials; imaging polymer aggregation and phase behavior directly in non-volatile ionic liquids; studying helical morphologies of polymer nanorods and wires; understanding phase separation in conjugated polymers and nanocomposites for photovoltaics; imaging bacterial-based fuel cells; and direct imaging of DNA replication. The new FEG-EFTEM will have extensive impact across numerous communities. The instrument will be accessible broadly to researchers across the UMass campus, as well as to the local undergraduate Colleges, including all-women's Mt Holyoke and Smith Colleges, and to partner institutions such as Howard University and the University of Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras. Through the NSF-funded Materials Research Facilities Network (MRFN), the instrument will be accessible to researchers across the U.S., significantly enhancing accessible TEM capabilities of the MRFN. The instrument will enhance education greatly by serving as a central teaching tool through its integration into core courses in Polymer Characterization and Polymer Morphology, while allowing expansion of curricula with the introduction of a graduate course in Electron Microscopy with extensive hands-on training on the FEG-EFTEM. Moreover, the FEG-EFTEM will benefit K-12 and Research Experience for Teachers (RET) outreach activities of various NSF and DOE centers at UMass, with electron tomography for 3D-image reconstruction providing an engaging and instructive view of materials that is suitable for integration into classroom instruction for young students. ASPIRE (A Student-led Program In Research and Education), which brings high school students to campus on Saturdays for a laboratory-based program on polymers, will showcase the 3D-tomographic capabilities of the FEG-EFTEM, thus greatly enhancing the long standing electron microscopy unit for this program.