Critical Accessories to put a Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscope in User Service

这项设备应用寻求对三个急需附件的支持，使最先进的场发射扫描电子显微镜(SEM)不仅可以用作先进的成像工具，还可以用作定量元素分析的强大纳米分析工具。蔡司梅林扫描电子显微镜配备了新的第二代Gemini-II电子光学柱和多个先进的探测器系统，是一种强大的超高分辨率成像工具。凭借其精细的光束光斑和高电流能力，新型显微镜特别适合所要求的能量色散X射线分析系统，使用户能够以高精度和高速绘制近表面的元素组成图。这一能力将显著改善现有纳米材料的成分分析。有了所需的附件，新的扫描电子显微镜系统不仅将缓解我们现有的已有15年历史的场致发射扫描电子显微镜系统上的大量用户积压，而且还将在新材料的元素定量方面提供显著改进，提供我们现有扫描电子显微镜系统无法提供的详细成分图。目前的工具将满足滑铁卢大学的75个地方研究小组和加拿大其他大学的30个学术小组的研究需要。这项请求还将提供一个装载锁定系统，以实现快速样品交换(这将提高效率并增加服务的用户数量)和一个会计软件(这将使我们能够有效地回收成本，使设施能够以收入中性的方式运行)。这一要求对于滑铁卢多样化的材料科学和工程研究项目的持续生存是至关重要的(至少有30个论文项目依赖于这个仪器)。

This equipment application seeks the support for three critically needed accessories to enable a state-of-the-art field-emission scanning electron microscope (SEM) to be used not just as an advanced imaging tool but also as a powerful nanoanalytical tool for quantitative elemental analysis. Equipped with a new second-generation Gemini-II electron optics column and multiple advanced detector systems, the Zeiss Merlin SEM is a powerful, ultrahigh resolution imaging tool. With its fine beam spot and high current capability, the new microscope is particularly well suited to the requested energy-dispersive X-ray analysis system, allowing the user to map the elemental composition of the near-surface with high precision and high speed. This capability will significantly improve the composition analysis of the nanomaterials on hand. With the requested accessories, the new SEM system will not only relieve the huge user backlog on our existing 15-years-old field-emission SEM system on campus, it will also provide significant improvement in elemental quantification of new materials, providing detailed composition maps that are not possible with our existing SEM system. The present tool will serve the research needs of over 75 local research groups from the University of Waterloo and 30 academic groups from other Canadian universities. This request will also provide a load-lock system to allow fast sample interchange (that will improve the efficiency and increase the number of users served) and an accounting software (that will enable us to effectively perform cost recovery so that the facility can be run in a revenue-neutral fashion). The request is critically needed for the continued survival of the diverse materials science and engineering research programs at Waterloo (and at least 30 thesis projects depend on this instrument).