SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY

This proposal funded the purchase of a high resolution, field emission scanning electron microscope (SEM) with microanalytical capabilities. The equipment will be housed in a specially designed, stand-alone building serving the imaging and microanalytical needs of Southern Illinois University as well as universities, colleges and industries within a 90-mile radius. This instrumentation will (a) replace an obsolescent, 28 year-old, conventional SEM heavily used by chemists, physicists, engineers and biologists at the Integrated Microscopy and Graphics Expertise (IMAGE) facility and (b) add new, high-resolution and microanalytical capabilities to this geographic region. INTELLECTUAL MERITS: The intellectual merits of this proposal stem from the essential involvement of scanning electron microscopy in numerous, high-quality research projects that have been continuously funded by agencies such as the National Science Foundation, private industry and other federal agencies. These studies involve large numbers of investigators and students exploring high-priority research areas and have yielded significant numbers of publications in well-regarded journals. Scanning electron microscopy is a mainstay technique in all of these studies since it enables scientists to see the ultrastructural details of fabricated systems, molecular arrangements of man-made nanostructures and the subtle changes associated with friction and wear surfaces. This technology is essential for the study of: (a) the assembly of molecular components for use in electronic nanodevices and nanocatalysts, (b) practical applications for nanotubes and nanowires, (c) nano-sized, solid lubricants, (d) polymer surfaces for use in biomarker screening, (e) basic geochemical studies and radiation chemistry, (f) fundamental properties of components for use in friction and wear surfaces such as aircraft brakes or synthetic hip joints, and (g) molecular changes in cellulose during microbial degradation. BROADER IMPACTS: The impact of this instrument acquisition will be an increase in the numbers of researchers and students involved in studies of the fine structure of a wide variety of fabricated systems as well as investigations into fundamental properties of wear surfaces or components used to fabricate nanodevices. Since the instrumentation is to be housed in a university-wide facility and since training involves mixed classes of chemists, engineers, materials scientists and biologists, the potential for collaborative and inter-disciplinary studies is fostered. The analytical features of the requested instrumentation, and the ability to examine specimens at high resolution at low accelerating voltages, will greatly enhance the productivity of all SEM users by providing previously unavailable capabilities to the research community. Training of new users will be tremendously expedited since the instrumentation is very user friendly and images can be viewed on a large monitor in order to demonstrate features of the specimen or analytical capabilities of the instrument. Sharing of data will be nearly instantaneous since the digital information is readily accessible over the Internet. Researchers from surrounding universities and community colleges with limited research facilities use our central facility, IMAGE, on a regular basis. Faculty and students from Southeast Missouri State University and John A. Logan College have used the equipment at the IMAGE facility or the expertise of the staff for the instruction of physical and biological sciences majors. The new instrument and its expanded capabilities will facilitate and increase these interactions since it can directly link with the Internet, allowing off-campus researchers and students to view specimens nearly simultaneously with the actual imaging in the electron microscope (so-called, remote microscopy).

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