PSu Magazine Winter 2002

performance of circuits and semiconductors on the nanoscale. team of re earchers from geology, geog– raphy, and biology. Although PSU has other electron microscope , Cady says the newest one is above chem all in terms of quality and resolution. "This instrument pro– vides us with a unique capability on campus," she says, adding chat it will enable her to venture into new avenue of research that were inacces– sible until now. PSU's new addition will be used by tudents as well as faculty. Jiao and her colleagues are developing an electron microscopy program for graduate as well as undergraduate students-a rar– ity in engineering education. J iao was recently awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation co estab– li ha summer research program giving minority undergraduates students hands-on experience. efore the new microscope can be used, it must have a suitable home. Because it will have an ultra– high re olution of les than two angstroms, any vibration whatsoever would destroy the close-up imaging PSU researchers are looking for. The instrument itself is equipped with a shock absorbing system chat will dampen most vibration, but the room in which it will be housed must also be as vibration-free as possible. The manufacturer must inspect the room and certify it before it will deliver the microscope, according to Wood. That means checking for vibra– tion, making sure it is free of any mag– netic fields that will interfere with the instrument's function, and also making sure its temperature control ystem is accurate to within a degree. Feyerherm says the university has committed to installing a new, state-of-the-art heat– ing, cooling and ventilation ystem in the room at a cost of as much as $100,000. Ocher large blowers in the building have been modified to reduce vibration. If the proposed room can't be certi– fied, the company and PSU will have to find another. Only then will FEI deliver and in tall the microscope. The whole process, from delivery through the final installation, i expected to take months. It's not likely to be completed until March, or per– haps as late as June. ut once it' up, it will allow PSU to move to new heights in elec– tron microscopy. People such as Jiao, Cady, and at least eight other interna– tionally recognized scientists who have come to PSU in the past three years will now be able to take the science to a realm not een before in this region-a realm measurable in atoms. 0 (John Kirkland, a Portland freelance writer, wrote the article "Kid Power" in the winter 2001 PSU Magazine.) WINTER 2002 P U MAGAZINE 11