This proposal requests funds for the acquisition of a dual beam focused ion beam (FIB) system to support funded research and to advance nanomaterials and nanodevice development at Portland State University (PSU) and related institutions and industrial partners. The proposed instrument will be housed in the Center for Electron Microscopy and Nanofabrication (CEMN) at PSU. The CEMN is a multi-user facility consisting of a several state-of-the-art high resolution electron microscopes and a well equipped specimen preparation laboratory. It serves PSU's researchers and students and those from other universities and technical personnel from local high-tech companies. PSU's CEMN also serves as one of the research facilities for the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute (ONAMI: www.onami.us), a collaborative entity involving Oregon's public research universities including PSU, Oregon State University (OSU), and University of Oregon (UO); the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Washington; and several companies that are part of the world-leading high-tech industry cluster in Oregon and southwest Washington. The new instrument will allow researchers in ONAMI to fully apply their professional expertise by bringing in-situ nanofabrication and nanoimaging capabilities to the universities in Oregon. The advanced techniques provided by the dual beam FIB, which are currently not available at any university in Oregon, will enable ONAMI researchers to initiate many new nanoscience and nanotechnology related projects for a long time to come. In addition, it will stimulate and nurture interactions/collaborations among researchers across disciplines and different university campuses in Oregon, creating new partnerships through academic-industrial liaison research and improving the cross disciplinary education of graduate and undergraduate students of varied academic backgrounds. High school teachers from the Northwest will have the chance to get their hands on the new instrument and then bring the concepts of nanotechnology to their schools, helping to motivate future generations of scientists and engineers.
