Surrey Multi-User Transmission Electron Microscope with X-ray Analysis and Tomography

透射式电子显微镜技术提供了对材料的独特见解。它使研究人员能够以极高的放大倍数观察固体内部，因此可以在最佳条件下观察到一排排原子。顾名思义，该仪器将一束电子束直接通过被研究的材料。通过这种方法，可以研究材料的内部结构。使用这些传输的电子可以获得三种类型的信息：(I)电子显微镜聚焦电子束(就像光学显微镜中的光一样)，以提供物理结构的图像，包括构成许多材料的晶体的形状和大小，以及原子尺度上的任何缺陷。(2)电子可以绕射(类似于从原子平面反射)，以揭示原子在材料中的二维和三维排列方式。(Iii)化学信息是通过电子在材料内移动时发射的X射线提供的。萨里大学增加了一台现代透射电子显微镜，将使化学工程、化学、电子工程、材料科学、机械工程科学和物理等学科的研究变得多样化。该仪器将包括X射线分析设施。它还将允许断层成像，提供样品的三维可视化，通常是有机或生物来源的样品。断层图像是通过电子束从不同的方向穿过样本而产生的。电子显微镜将被安置在一个中央设施中，在那里它将得到很好的支持，整个大学社区都可以接触到它。这一工具将使每年数十名研究人员(包括研究生和职业生涯早期学者)参与多学科项目。该显微镜将有助于实现的研究实例包括：(I)开发更高效率的能量存储技术，(Ii)创造新的可生物降解材料，(Iii)增强工程材料和系统的性能(例如用于飞机或汽车)，(Iv)建立量子计算的实用性，(V)以及开发先进的药物输送和抗癌疗法。

The technique of transmission electron microscopy provides unique insight into materials. It allows researchers to see inside solids at extremely high magnifications, so that rows of atoms can be visualised under optimum conditions. As the name suggests, the instrument 'transmits' a beam of electrons directly through the material being studied. In this way, the internal structure of the material can be studied. There are three types of information obtained using these transmitted electrons: (i) TEM focuses the electron beam (just like the light in an optical microscope) to provides images of the physical structure, including the shapes and sizes of crystals that constitute many materials plus any defects at the atomic scale. (ii) The electrons can be diffracted (analogous to being reflected from planes of atoms) to reveal how the atoms are arranged in two and three dimensions in a material. (iii) Chemical information is provided via the X-rays that are emitted as the electrons travel within the material.The addition of a modern transmission electron microscope, or TEM, at the University of Surrey will enable diverse research across the disciplines of chemical engineering, chemistry, electronic engineering, materials science, mechanical engineering sciences, and physics. The instrument will include facilities for X-ray analysis. It will also allow tomography, which provides visualisation of samples, often of organic or biological origin, in three dimensions. Tomographic images are created by passing the electron beam through the sample from different directions.The TEM will be housed in a central facility, where it will be well supported and accessible to the entire University community. This instrument will enable many tens of researchers (including postgraduate students and early career academics), each year, to engage in multidisciplinary projects. Examples of the research, much of it supported by EPSRC, that this microscope will enable include: (i) developing higher efficiency energy storage technologies, (ii) creating new biodegradable materials, (iii) enhancing the performance of engineering materials and systems (such as for aircraft or automobiles), (iv) establishing the practicalities of quantum computing, (v) and developing advanced drug delivery and anti-cancer therapeutics.