Boise State University (BSU) will acquire a multifunctional x-ray diffraction system (XRD) for multidisciplinary research and education. This state-of-the-art instrumentation will be equipped with a Cu tube x-ray generator, cross beam optics, a wide angle goniometer, diffracted-beam optics, a scintillation detector, a small angle scattering unit, cold and hot stages, an advanced thin film measurement unit, and a Laue unit. For crystalline objects including nanostructures, biominerals, protein crystals, thin films, semiconductors, metals, ceramics, polymers, virus crystals, and nanocrystals, x-ray diffraction is a versatile tool used to analyze local and global arrangements of atoms and molecules. The XRD will serve more than fifteen faculty of six departments. Projects cover a diverse range of topics of nanotechnology and other materials-related areas including: nanoparticles formed via reduction, nanophase structures in block copolymers, nano-magneto-mechanics, novel storage materials, bioreductive transformations in minerals, phase transformations in alloys, ferromagnetic thin films, collagen, spintronics, electronic materials, and phase identification. The XRD will significantly enhance and foster existing and developing inter-departmental and inter-institutional national and international collaborations. The XRD will become a major resource for student training and undergraduate and graduate student research. The XRD will be utilized in several undergraduate and graduate level courses including PHYS 523, Physical Methods of Materials Characterization, a core course in the MSE graduate program, and courses in Geology and Biology.
Lay Abstract
Boise State University is a rapidly growing metropolitan research institution located in Boise, Idaho, one of the fastest growing high technology regions in the country. Micron Technology and other local companies are in need of characterization expertise and send their employees to BSU for training in nanotechnology subjects including materials characterization. With the new XRD we respond to this demand by attracting more students to science and engineering, by improving science and engineering education at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and by fostering cutting-edge basic research and interaction with local industry. The XRD will be used as a demonstration instrument for tours by grade school children including a yearly two-day adventure "e-Girls" for female students in 9th and 10th grade held at the College of Engineering, and will promote recruitment in science and engineering by serving as a showcase instrument. It will be heavily utilized by undergraduates doing research in the interdisciplinary materials minor and by majors in chemistry, physics, geosciences, biology and materials science and engineering. It will also be a chief characterization tool for a large and growing number of graduate students and faculty. Through the new XRD, BSU will accomplish the increasing scientific and educational needs of the rapidly growing high-tech and nanotechnology industry of Southern Idaho by training skilled scientists and engineers.
