NSF Funds Microscopy Facility Upgrades

The National Science Foundation will provide funds to upgrade the Maryland NanoCenter's electron microscopy facility within the Jeong H. Kim Building.

An inter-disciplinary team of researchers led by materials science and engineering Prof. Lourdes Salamanca-Riba will use the $500,000 grant to purchase accessories for two new microscopes in the Nanoscale Imaging Spectroscopy and Properties (NISP) Laboratory in the Kim Building.

"This award is central to our continued progress as a leader in science, engineering and nanotechnology research on structure at the molecular- and nanoscale," said Prof. Gary Rubloff, director of the Maryland NanoCenter. "The NSF award builds on major investments the campus has made in electron microscopy, providing funds to add pivotal chemical analysis capabilities to our new instrumentation. This makes our nanoscale electron microscopy competitive with the best, and available to the region through the open doors of the Maryland NanoCenter."

The upgrades will allow researchers to better detect the composition of material and evaluate its chemical state.

"These instruments essentially let us 'see' individual atoms in material," said Bryan Eichhorn, professor of chemistry and biochemistry.

In addition to being a part of the Maryland NanoCenter, the NISP Lab is a collaborative research facility of the University of Maryland and its "Beltway Partner" institutions, Howard, Catholic, George Washington and Georgetown universities.

Published September 13, 2006