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

This minor equipment application seeks the crucial support for several repairs to the critical components in the first and only field-emission scanning electron microscope (SEM) at the University of Waterloo.  Equipped with an EDAX energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectrometer for elemental analysis and a TSL electron-backscatter diffraction (EBSD) system for orientation imaging microscopy (OIM), as well as a Nabity-Raith e-beam writer for e-beam lithography, this Zeiss/LEO FESEM-1530 SEM system is one of the most flexible multi-technique field-emission SEMs in Canada.  This SEM system has been in operation since 2000 and has been under constant heavy usage by over 80 local research groups from the University of Waterloo (and the University of Guelph and Wilfrid Laurier University) and 20 other academic groups from the rest of Canada.  Specifically, the support will allow us to replace a failing turbo pump with a corroded water loop, a degraded EDX detector and a faulty OIM camera.  The support will also enable us to bring the data systems and software (all currently working in the Microsoft NT environment) up to the more robust and secure XP systems.  The software updates will significantly enhance the machine performance with new acquisition and processing capabilities for the individual systems, enabling new characterization experiments not possible before.  These critical repairs and updates will bring the Waterloo SEM back up to full operation at near state-of-the-art level.  The requested repairs are critically needed for the continued survival of our diverse multiple materials science and engineering research programs at Waterloo, and indeed the thesis works of over 100 graduate students vitally depend on this emergency fix.