Acquisition of Equipment for Analytical Scanning Electron Microscopy with Applications in Biology, Chemistry, Geology, and Engineering

Florida State University, Tallahassee FL

Investigators

Abstract

A grant has been awarded to the Florida State University under the direction of Dr. Fredrik Ronquist for partial support of the acquisition of a scanning electron microscope with a field emission gun, a variable-pressure specimen chamber, a cryotransfer unit, and an elemental microanalysis unit. The equipment will offer a number of microscopic examination techniques that are not available today in the north Florida region and will be used by biologists, chemists, engineers, and geologists at the Florida State University and the Florida Agircultural and Mechanical University and by colleagues at other universities and colleges in the region. The field emission gun allows imaging with extraordinary contrast and large depth of focus at both low and high magnifications. It also gives greatly improved performance at low acceleration voltages, which allows high-magnification examination of uncoated samples or samples that have a tendency to charge and alter in the electron beam. The possibility of raising the pressure in the examination chamber by introducing a gas can also help in the examination of sensitive samples. The cryotransfer equipment is used for rapid freezing of a specimen for subsequent transfer in the frozen state into the microscope chamber. With this equipment it is possible to observe unfixed frozen material in its natural state. Finally, the X-ray microanalysis equipment allows analysis of the composition of the sample surface. The new instrument will be used for a wide range of applications including studies of polymers; cellular and tissue details important in medical engineering; /Drosophila/ mutants; teeth and other skeletal structures in dinosaurs, birds and mammals; skeletal morphology of hymenopterans (ants, wasps and bees); flower morphology; and structure of clays and fossil diatom assemblages in deep sea sediments. Five research groups in Chemistry are studying different types of novel materials based on nano-scale manipulation. The new microscope equipment will support the research of many faculty members but will also be used in education and research training of underrepresented groups. Other examples of activities with broad impact that will benefit from the new equipment include Sir Harold Kroto's efforts to popularize science through the Vega Science Trust, the first free Internet broadcaster of science programs, and the MorphBank project, aimed at providing a web platform for international collaboration in image-based biological disciplines such as comparative morphology and biodiversity research.