Urgent repair and upgrade of high-vacuum variable-temperature scanning probe microscope

RTI资金需要恢复到研究准备状态的高真空，变温扫描探针显微镜（SPM）。通过适度的投资，拟议的升级将使现有设备恢复运行，其最初价值是RTI申请资金的四倍多，并将其研究寿命延长一倍。该仪器是目前西部大学唯一可用的同类仪器，对于申请人团队进行一些时间敏感的项目至关重要，因为这些项目无法将精致的样品运送到另一个地方。这些项目包括将现有的工业合作伙伴关系提升到一个新的水平，以及加强团队成员在有机材料、表面和界面、生物材料生长和25K-300K温度域的纳米级电传输等关键领域的新发现研究。SPMs是一类成像技术，它使用纳米级物理探针形成表面和地下特征的地图。需要紧急维修和升级的Scienta Omicron VT是一种先进的SPM，能够使用多种SPM技术，包括但不限于：原子力显微镜（AFM）、扫描隧道显微镜（STM）和开尔文探针显微镜（KPM）。申请人团队成员的研究活动高度关注这些技术，并具有处理此类仪器的丰富经验。此外，由于PI在扫描近场光学显微镜（SNOM）方面的独特专业知识，我们在这里建议将该系统用于变温度下的低温SNOM。SNOM是一种基于spm的纳米光学技术，能够获得超过衍射极限的超分辨率图像。Fanchini的团队在用于提高太阳能电池效率的等离子体纳米结构的SNOM成像，等离子体光波导，以及纳米级纳米结构薄膜的热导率的无接触成像方面具有专门的专业知识。超分辨率，无接触，热导成像在变温度将成为可能通过低温SNOM。这将为热输运的基本物理理解提供前所未有的机会，包括电子驱动和声子驱动，在大量二维、纳米结构和有机材料中，其中许多是由西方大学的共同申请者和合作者提供的。低温SNOM的研究将是加拿大独有的，并等待进行修复和升级。由于SPM技术不涉及较高的预算成本，因此不仅在学术界，而且在材料制造部门的几个基于工业的研发中心，SPM技术在一些非破坏性材料表征设施中非常受欢迎。因此，经过修复和升级的高真空、变温SPM将为我们的高素质人员（HQP）提供在这一高度市场化的先进材料表征领域的实践和必要的经验培训。

RTI funds are required to return to a state of research readiness a high-vacuum, variable-temperature scanning probe microscope (SPM). With a moderate investment, the proposed upgrade will bring back to operation an existing piece of equipment originally worth more than four times the requested RTI funds and will double its research lifetime. This instrument is the only one of its kind currently available at Western University, and is vital to carry out a number of time-sensitive projects from the applicant team, for which delicate samples cannot be transported to another location. Such projects include bringing existing industrial partnerships to the next level, as well as enhancing new discovery research by team members in the critical areas of organic materials, surfaces and interfaces, biomaterials growth, and nanoscale electrical transport in the 25K-300K temperature domain. SPMs are a class of imaging techniques that form maps of surface and subsurface features using nanosized physical probes. The Scienta Omicron VT for which urgent repair and upgrade is required is an advanced SPM capable of multiple SPM techniques, including, but not limited to: atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and Kelvin-probe microscopy (KPM). Research activities from applicant team members are highly focused on such techniques, with extensive experience in handling instruments of this kind. In addition, due to the unique expertise of the PI in scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM), we are here proposing to use this system for cryogenic SNOM at variable temperature. SNOM is an SPM-based nano-optical technique that is capable to obtain super-resolution images beyond the diffraction limit. Fanchini's group has specific expertise in SNOM imaging of plasmonic nanostructures for solar cell efficiency enhancement, plasmonic optical waveguides, and for contact-free imaging the thermal conductivity of nanostructured thin films at the nanoscale. Super-resolution, contact-free, thermal conductivity imaging at variable temperature will be made possible via cryogenic SNOM. This will open unprecedented opportunities towards the fundamental physical understanding of thermal transport, both electron-driven and phonon-driven, in a host of 2D, nanostructured and organic materials, many of which supplied by co-applicants and collaborators at Western. Research in cryogenic SNOM will be unique to Canada and awaits this repair and upgrade to be carried out. Because SPM techniques do not involve elevated budget costs, they are very popular assets in several non-destructive materials characterization facilities, not only in academia, but also several industry-based R&D centers in the materials manufacturing sector. Thus, the repaired and upgraded high-vacuum, variable-temperature SPM will provide our highly-qualified personnel (HQP) with hands-on and essential experiential training in this highly marketable area of advanced materials characterization.