The interdisciplinary multi-user Electron Microscopy Facility at Trinity College seeks funds to acquire a modern analytical variable-pressure Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) to serve as a critical research tool for imaging and elemental analysis of materials and life science specimens from across the sciences. The requested SEM will play an important and complementary role in Trinity?s existing EM Facility which currently comprises two Transmission Electron Microscopes including an analytical TEM/(S)TEM, a wide range of specimen preparation tools, and a failing 24-year-old SEM with diminished functionality. The new SEM will serve researchers from diverse fields working on projects that include the study of placental morphology in viviparous reptiles (Biology), microparticulates in lake sediments (Environmental Science), archeological artifacts (Chemistry and Classics), nanowire characterization (Physics), and soft condensed matter (Engineering). The requested variable-pressure SEM with X-ray Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy and Micro X-ray Fluorescence will meet the research and pedagogical needs of the sciences at Trinity and facilitate greater exposure of scientific principles and advanced scientific instrumentation to more faculty, students and collaborators. It will be used by faculty and undergraduates in the sciences and in other disciplines for research and research training. It will support education by its use in undergraduate courses and laboratory modules tailored to each science department or program and the inclusion of undergraduates in faculty research. The ease of use and broad analytical capabilities of this instrument will enable examination of specimens ranging from geological samples to biological tissues, from archeological artifacts to fabricated nanowires and foams, with a high degree of spatial resolution in both imaging and analytical applications. It will support increased numbers of users and types of scientific investigation by Trinity researchers in Biology, Environmental Science, Chemistry, Neuroscience, Engineering and Physics, by collaborators in neighboring institutions, and in established outreach programs that include undergraduate and graduate students as well as high school and grammar school students and their teachers.
The interdisciplinary multi-user Electron Microscopy Facility at Trinity College seeks funds to acquire a modern analytical variable-pressure Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) to serve as a critical research tool for imaging and elemental analysis of materials and life science specimens from across the sciences. The requested SEM will meet the research and pedagogical needs of the sciences at Trinity and facilitate greater exposure of scientific principles and advanced scientific instrumentation to more faculty, students and collaborators. This SEM is an advanced scientific tool which enables high-resolution imaging of structures far too small to be visualized by the unaided eye or even with a light microscope. Various detectors make possible complex and complementary compositional analysis of a wide range of sample types. Insights gathered with this instrument result in a better understanding of a material?s structural/functional relationships at the nano-level in studies involving biology (such as cells and organs, insects, plants, bacteria), the physical sciences (such as ceramics, semiconductors, plastics, rocks) and environmental science (such as sediments, atmospheric pollutants, and geologic history). Incorporating the SEM into both research and credited college courses exposes students across scientific disciplines and the humanities to the theoretical basis and applications of advanced scientific instrumentation, including proper scientific data collection and analysis and the presentation of research results.
The interdisciplinary multi-user Electron Microscopy Facility at Trinity College acquired a modern analytical variable-pressure Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) to serve as a critical tool for high-resolution imaging and elemental analysis of materials and life science specimens from across the sciences. Its primary goals are to support undergraduate research, research training, and education and to provide a nexus for science and discovery in the community at large. This SEM supports the research and pedagogical needs of the sciences at Trinity and facilitates greater exposure of scientific principles and advanced scientific instrumentation to faculty, students, collaborators and outreach participants. It is an advanced scientific tool which enables high-resolution imaging of structures far too small to be visualized by the unaided eye or even with a light microscope. Various detectors – there are nine – and multiple operational modes and configurations make possible very complex but complementary ultrastructural and compositional analyses of a wide range of sample types. Insights gathered with this instrument result in a better understanding of a material’s structural/functional relationships at the nano-level in studies involving biology (such as cells and tissues, insects, plants, bacteria), the physical sciences (such as metals, ceramics, semiconductors, papers, plastics) and environmental science (such as sediments, rocks and minerals, atmospheric pollutants, geologic history as captured in ancient lake sediment core samples). Incorporating the SEM into both research and credited college courses exposes students across scientific disciplines as well as the humanities to the theoretical basis and applications of advanced scientific instrumentation, including proper scientific data collection and analysis and the presentation of research results. In particular, the analytical SEM supported Environmental Science and Chemistry projects that studied the elemental composition of materials as well as their ultrastructural details. Chemistry and Classics departments partnered to study archaeological artifacts from Israel dating from 2000 BC by similar methods. In Physics, X-ray maps revealed the distribution of chemicals within materials as well as their overall structure. A 2-day regional meeting of the Society for Physics Students (Zone 1, New England states) brought together scores of participants from that region for a program that included invited speakers, career panels, and student presentations. The SEM served as a featured meeting highlight in an EM Open House with standing-room-only participation. SEM studies of botanical specimens and mammalian tissues in a dedicated interdisciplinary SEM course introduced students to the principles of electron microscopes and their applications in the Life Sciences; representative Materials Science specimens included paper, metals, and IC chips. A long-standing undergraduate research project between the Chemistry Dept and the State of Connecticut Dept of Archaeology invited high school student participation. The same partnership in a non-majors course introduces humanities majors and other students to scientific principles in real-life applications for characterization of American Indian and Colonial-era artifacts from local dig-sites. Another Physics project involved the examination of student-manufactured electron emitters, or tips, about 20nm in size. These were examined in a collaboration with the CRISP MRSEC (Center for Research on Interface Structures and Phenomena, a part of the NSF-funded Materials Research Science and Engineering Center) located at Yale University and Southern CT State University. In a first-time outreach event, the SEM enabled an online nursing student to take part in a hands-on exercise involving the use of the SEM in Pathology, specifically examining mammalian lung, kidney, and lung tissues. An interdisciplinary project between Chemistry and Art that is still underway examines the elemental composition of paint on paper, searching for clues to the processes used in creating these valuable specimens. This is a challenging material due to its unfavorable interaction with the electrons in the vacuum that causes charging and prevents analysis. Commonly this issue is addressed by coating the specimen with a conductive coating, but that effectively destroys the sample. Instead, using this SEM's variable pressure mode and micro X-ray fluorescence (uXRF) capability, such problems are readily surmounted. Trinity's uXRF is unique in the region and is now accessible to researchers outside Trinity as well. In summary, the NSF-funded analytical SEM has been effectively and broadly utilized by faculty, undergraduates, and high school students, as well as outside organizations, for education and outreach, and for research and research training, all within a very brief period following its installation in the Electron Microscopy Facility at Trinity College. This SEM is a remarkable instrument and is poised now to deliver on all the promises made in support of its acquisition, and more.
