Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

The field emission scanning electron microscope (SEM) facility at Dalhousie University is part of the Institute for Research in Materials (IRM). It has provided imaging and analytical services to users from Atlantic Canada for over 7 years. To date, more than 400 HQP researchers in Materials Science, Physics, Engineering, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Biology, and Medicine have utilized the SEM in conjunction with the attachments for energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and electron back scatter diffraction (EBSD). The facility is currently accessed by 80 HQP within Dalhousie and the surrounding Atlantic Canada region on a regular basis. In many instances, it is the only regional means for them to advance their research and further their understanding of the innovative materials they create and test. Whereas the core unit itself is in exceptional working order, a number of the peripheral features are now in a state of disrepair. These items have recently begun to degrade at an alarming pace prompting frequent system shut downs that have invoked serious delays in HQP research and thousands of dollars in repair work. The issues at hand can be fully resolved with the purchase of several items that will replace the unreliable components and simultaneously enable major improvements in the quality, quantity, and nature of data that HQP can acquire from the system. One item is a replacement of the operating system and computer that runs the SEM. The second is a silicon drift detector (SDD) needed to replace our ailing Si(Li) detector. The SDD package is premised on the Oxford Instruments X-Max 80 detector. It can complete chemical analyses at exceptionally fast counting rates, is ideally suited for EDS work on delicate specimens (nano-materials, thin films), requires no liquid nitrogen during operation, and is virtually maintenance free. The final item is an Oxford Channel 5 ICDS structural database of crystalline materials. It is a natural extension to the other expenditures and will facilitate phase identification in complex materials. The applicant team endeavors to secure funding for these items on their own personal behalf and that of our entire SEM user community.