Case for a Field Emission Gun Analytical Transmission Electron Microscope

电子显微镜和扫描探针显微镜(EM和SPM)是材料科学研究人员的关键技术。扫描电子显微镜和原子力显微镜可以探测材料的表面，由于其较低的操作成本，在学术界和工业中都得到了更广泛的使用。透射式电子显微镜允许以至少比扫描电子显微镜高一个数量级的分辨率对材料的外部和内部结构进行成像，通常价格较高，因此应用范围较小。根据所调查材料的具体性质，TEM有多种配置。仪器和探测器设计的最新进展极大地提高了电子显微镜的分析能力，使它们成为支持纳米结构材料开创性研究的重要工具。了解化学衍生过程如何控制跨纳米长度尺度的物质的结构和组织在材料研究的不同领域具有至关重要的意义。尽管纳米科学的许多领域正在蓬勃发展，但仍然迫切需要制定连贯和强有力的战略，以合成构建功能纳米物体和纳米结构。特别是，由可编程组件共同产生集成功能的纳米级体系结构的系统设计在生物电子、能量存储、传感、纳米等离子、药物输送和高性能绿色催化等关键新兴领域具有巨大的变革潜力。所要求的场发射枪分析透射电子显微镜[FEG-ATEM]将提供所需的亚纳米分辨率，以填补我们目前的分析信息空白，从而使这些研究领域的科学野心不受限制。该仪器是布里斯托尔对先进显微镜设备的战略投资的一部分，也是建立一个具有国际竞争力的材料表征设施的雄心的核心，该设施符合其所支持的世界领先的研究。

Electron and Scanning Probe Microscopies (EM and SPM) are critical techniques for researchers involved in materials science. Scanning electron and atomic force microscopes, which allow the surfaces of materials to be probed, are more widely available both in academia and industry due to their lower operational costs. Transmission electron microscopes (TEM), which allow the imaging of both the external and internal structure of materials at resolutions at least an order of magnitude better than SEMs, are generally more expensive and hence less widely available. TEMs are available in numerous configurations dependent on the specific nature of the materials under investigation. Recent advances in instrument and detector design have dramatically improved the analytical capabilities of TEMs such that they are essential instruments to support pioneering studies on nanostructured materials.Understanding how chemically derived processes control the construction and organization of matter across nanoscopic length scales is of critical importance in diverse areas of materials research. Although many areas of nanoscience are burgeoning, there remains an urgent need to develop coherent and robust strategies towards the synthetic construction of functional nano-objects and nanostructures. In particular, the systematic design of nanoscale architectures from programmable components that collectively produce integrated functions has great transformative potential in key emerging fields such as bioelectronics, energy storage, sensing, nanoplasmonics, drug delivery and high performance green catalysis. The requested field emission gun analytical transmission electron microscope [FEG-ATEM] will provide the sub nm resolution demanded to fill our current analytical information gap so that scientific ambitions in these research areas are not constrained. The instrument forms part of a strategic investment in advanced microscopy provision at Bristol, and is the centrepiece of ambitions for an internationally competitive materials characterization facility befitting the world-leading research it underpins.