MRI: Acquisition of an FEI Helios Focused Ion Beam and Scanning Electron Microscope Workstation

Stanford University, Stanford CA

Investigators

Abstract

This award to Stanford University is for the acquisition of a Helios NanoLab 600i dual-beam Focused Ion Beam / Scanning Electron microscope manufactured by the FEI Company. The Helios offers unprecedented capabilities for fabricating and characterizing two- and three-dimensional nanoscale objects. It will enable more than thirty Stanford research groups to address grand challenges in nanoscience and nanotechnology. For example, the Helios will support research efforts to: create plasmonic optical tweezers that can trap single atoms; detect cancer in its earliest stages; create the first integrated circuit that can serve as an efficient source of terahertz radiation; develop organic solar cells with higher efficiency and organic transistors with higher mobility; determine how neurons communicate with each other in the brain; and, elucidate the quantum mechanical phenomena that determine the behavior of topological insulators. The Helios will also enable a broad range of scientists to prepare higher-quality samples for transmission electron microscopy because it prepares lamellae with a low-energy (500 eV) ion beam. As a result, researchers will be able to take full advantage of state-of-the-art aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopes that can image samples with sub-Ångstrom resolution. The Helios will reside within the Stanford Nano Center (SNC), a shared user facility, where external users from corporations, national laboratories, and other academic institutions will have access. In addition, it will be part of the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network(NNIN). No open laboratory in northern California contains a Focused Ion Beam instrument as advanced as the Helios. Researchers at Stanford will collaborate with the FEI Company to implement full remote control by domestic and international users of the Helios. The Helios will be featured in public outreach events such as Stanford Days and Nanodays, and its capabilities will be shared with minority-serving institutions in an effort to catalyze future collaborations.