The scanning electron microscope (SEM) will be used in a variety of research projects spanning physics, chemistry, geology, and biology. Use of this instrument will enable our faculty, students, and external collaborators to obtain new insights in our respective areas of investigation; to image materials over length scales that we are currently unable to study; to train our undergraduate students in an essential material characterization tool; and to fill a critical niche in our equipment base. In particular, the SEM will be used at Coe College to look at laser damage, corrosion, and abrasion of glassy materials; at biocements; and at the mineral deposits of bacteria. Cornell College collaborators will use the instrument to look at zircon grains in geological research, as well as morphological differences in flies in biological work. Every year, the SEM will be used by 5 research groups at Coe College (~6 faculty with 30 Coe students), 7 REU site participants, and as many as 4 Cornell College faculty working with their undergraduates. The SEM will also impact student through its use in courses ranging from Materials Physics and Chemistry, Optics, and Microbiology at Coe to Mineralogy and Petrology from Cornell.
General abstract
Looking at the world of the very small had become an essential element of doing research with materials of every sort. The Scanning Electron Microscope at Coe College will allow our scientists to look at laser "burn marks" smaller than a human hair and to see cracked glass surfaces that look like a dried desert landscape. These images will advance our understanding of materials that could, someday, be used to store computer memories, to develop better adhesives, to improve commercial glasses, or to understand bacteria that help clean natural environments. Our microscope will also permit us to see if samples differ in their chemical make-up, even if the changes are over tiny areas and distances. But most importantly, this microscope will help in an invaluable goal: to train our college students to become the future leaders in fields of science and technology essential to the welfare of the nation.
