This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is an essential tool in the study of atomic-scale structure-property relationships of functional nano-materials. With the development of aberration correctors, the spatial resolution of TEMs operated at 200kV has now reached 70 pm. While most aberration-corrected TEMs are optimized to achieve the highest spatial resolution, their analytical capabilities are limited by a moderate energy-resolution (~0.8 eV at 200 kV) and the inability to perform in-situ experiments. This project will acquire a next-generation aberration-corrected TEM, with unprecedented spatial and energy resolution for multidisciplinary research and education at UIC. The JEOL ARM 200CF incorporates many recent innovations including a next-generation spherical-aberration probe-corrector (70 nm spatial resolution), a high-brightness cold-field emission electron source (0.3 eV energy-resolution), variable acceleration energy (between 80-200 kV), as well as improved mechanical, thermal and magnetic shielding. The instrument is unique in its abilities to provide ultra-high resolution for imaging and spectroscopy in the temperature range between 80-1000 K using in-situ heating/cooling holders. It provides the faculty involved in this project the unique abilities to study a broad range of interdisciplinary problems, including correlated behavior in complex oxides, thermal stability in metal/oxide interfaces, heat transfer filled carbon nanotubes, as well as the interaction of airborne nanoparticles with human cells. The instrument will be operated by UIC's Research Resources Center, a center of excellence for teaching and training of advanced TEM. The faculty at UIC will further use the instrument to develop strong collaborative interactions with groups at surrounding academic institutions and industrial laboratories to maximizing the outreach opportunities for training and research of UIC's diverse student body.
Non-technical Summary: This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
Nano-materials are essential to the advancement of virtually all technological devices. To study and improve upon nano-materials we must examine them on an atomic level. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is one of the fundamental means by which atomic structures of such nano-material can be studied. Until recently, the spatial resolution of every conventional TEM was inherently limited by the aberrations of the optical imaging system. However, the development of aberration correctors, the equivalent of a pair of reading glasses, which correct for some of the microscope's aberrations (e.g. astigmatism), has allowed us to improve the spatial resolution of atomic-scale images by more than a factor of three. Such significant improvements in spatial resolution will enable us to study atoms which have previously been beyond the range of our instrument capabilities, and to see far greater detail of a material's structure. In addition, atomic resolution can now also be achieved in the temperature range between 80 K and 1000 K, which will allow the direct examination of dynamic processes in nano-materials. This project will acquire an aberration-corrected TEM, and upgrade this instrument with an electron source, which provides a cleaner (i.e. monochromatic) electron beam to further improve its imaging and analytical capabilities. This instrument allows the UIC faculty to study a wide range of materials from new structures converting excess heat into clean energy, to materials for more efficient data storage, and the effects of welding fumes on human lung cells. The instrument will be housed in a centralized facility at UIC, and provides access not only to researchers at UIC, but also to scientists from all over the world. The installation of this instrument dramatically improves the teaching and outreach capabilities of the involved faculty at UIC, and establishes a regional center of excellence in a central Midwest location providing unparalleled TEM instrumentation access to students and scientist from four Universities, two National Laboratories and countless industrial research labs in the Chicagoland area alone.
The field of scanning transmission electron microscope has experienced a revolution in the last decade with the development of instruments that enable us to visualize individual atoms inside a given material system. At the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), the PI Klie has recently purchased a probe aberration-corrected cold-field emission JEOL JEM-ARM200CF (see Figure 1a) using the NSF MRI-R2 grant awarded to him in 2010. The necessary upgrades to the existing laboratory environment included the installation of radiant cooling panels shown in Figure 1a), as well as electric field and active vibration cancellation systems. With these modifications, the PI was able to meet or exceed the thermal, vibrational and field stability requirements, even in an urban campus environment. In early 2012, the new instrument was officially inaugurated and is now open for user access. In its current configuration, the JEOL JEM200CF can achieve 78 pm spatial and 350 meV energy resolution, thereby making it one of the highest resolution transmission electron microscopes in the United States. A dedication ceremony and ribbon cutting was held on 20th January 2012 to mark the opening of the JEM-ARM200CF at UIC to researchers. Speeches were given by Robert Klie (Physics), Astrida Tantillo (interim Dean, LAS), Peter Nelson (Dean, Engineering), Joe "Skip" Garcia (Vice Chancellor for Research) and David Hoffman (Acting Head, Physics) this was followed by the ribbon cutting, and an opportunity for guests to view the new microscope (see Figure 3). On January 20, 2012, Chicago Public Radio (WBEZ) aired an interview with the PI Klie and announced the official opening of the Midwest Center of Excellence for Analytical Electron Microscopy. A full version of the interview can be found at www.wbez.org/story/new-microscope-gives-clearest-view-atoms-95672.
