MRI Consortium: Development of Dynamic PicoProbe for Multi-Modal, Multi-Dimensional HyperSpectral Imaging of Soft/Hard Matter and Interfaces in Environmental Media

这个主要研究仪器（MRI）奖由材料研究（DMR）在数学物理科学（MPS）理事会和土木，机械和制造创新（CMMI）在工程（ENG）理事会的部门支持开发一个纳米级的微电子资源，动态PicoProbe，使液体/固体/硬/软物质界面的定量研究时间分辨高分辨率原位环境观测使用先进的分析电子显微镜。资助这一仪器的开发可以在与工程和材料研究相关的几个领域取得进展，并应用于水能关系、催化、量子电子学、生物电子学、癌症治疗和蛋白质工程。该项目创建了一个全国用户可访问的资源，并提供了独特的机会，通过合作调查培训学生，博士后，新手和有经验的研究人员。这个乐器开发项目的核心是培训下一代乐器演奏家，使他们具备对职业发展至关重要的有针对性的技术和专业技能。 动态PicoProbe仪器采用新型结构化照明光学器件和机器学习/人工智能分析软件，用于实时数据处理，将环境介质中纳米尺度的时间测量能力提高一个数量级。光学和软件都与最先进的探测器集成到现有的一流分析显微镜中。该项目导致的电子光学束线具有元素的灵敏度（1%的最小质量分数）和图像分辨率（0.1纳米）需要捕捉本地化和个人的动态事件（3毫秒）在固液或固气界面。这些测量对于推进科学和工程领域的多个前沿领域至关重要，如工程纳米材料、有机/无机异质结构、生物界面、大分子复合物和量子电子学。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) award by both the Division of Materials Research (DMR) in the Directorate for Mathematical & Physical Sciences (MPS) and the Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI) in the Directorate for Engineering (ENG) supports the development of a nanoscale metrological resource, the Dynamic PicoProbe, to enable quantitative investigations of liquid/solid/hard/soft matter interfaces for time-resolved high-resolution in-situ environmental observations using advanced analytical electron microscopy. Funding this instrument development allows advancement in several areas relevant to engineering and materials research with applications in the water-energy nexus, catalysis, quantum electronics, bioelectronics, cancer therapy, and protein engineering. The project creates a national user-accessible resource and offers unique opportunities to train students, postdocs, novice and experienced researchers through collaborative investigations. Central to this instrument-development project is training next-generation instrumentalists with targeted technical and professional skillsets critical to their career advancements. The Dynamic PicoProbe instrument features new structured illumination optics and machine learning/artificial intelligence analysis software for real-time data processing to improve temporal measurement capabilities at the nanoscale in environmental media by one order of magnitude. Both optics and software are integrated with state-of-the-art detectors into an existing best-of-class analytical microscope. The project leads to an electron-optical beam line having the elemental sensitivity ( 1% minimum mass fraction) and image resolution ( 0.1 nm) required to capture localized and individual dynamic events ( 3 ms) at solid-liquid or solid-gas interfaces. Such measurements are critical to advance multiple frontiers in science and engineering, such as engineered nanomaterials, organic/inorganic heterostructures, biointerfaces, macromolecular complexes, and quantum electronics.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.