Equipment: MRI: Track 2 Acquisition of an Analytical Aberration-Corrected Transmission Electron Microscope for Research and Education

Non-Technical Description:

This major research instrumentation (MRI) project enables acquisition of an aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope (AC-STEM) housed at the University of Oklahoma (OU). The microscope allows researchers to simultaneously collect information about the structure and chemistry of a range of materials atom-by-atom. The AC-STEM system plays a key role in broader plans for shared infrastructure to support research and education in in a multi-state region, including Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, and northern Texas.

The AC-STEM is managed by the Samuel Roberts Noble Microscopy Laboratory (SRNML) core user facility, ensuring the instrument widely accessible. The microscope empowers a diverse community of researchers to explore fundamental materials properties that underlie frontier technologies and address critical societal challenges while training the next generation of interdisciplinary science and engineering scholars.

The instrument is also integrated into a range of efforts to broaden participation in science and engineering, including K-12 outreach, interactions with a regional minority-serving career technology center, and activities providing research experiences for undergraduates. Technical Description:

Specifically, the MRI project enables acquisition of a 30-200kV probe-corrected system which allows researchers to interrogate materials with sub-angstrom accuracy to collect simultaneous image, diffraction, and spectral data. The AC-STEM supports transformative research in quantum technology and microelectronics, data-driven materials discovery, and nanomaterials for sustainability, among other topics.

Examples of research activities facilitated by the instrumentation include atomic-level characterization of single-spin qubits, core-shell nanoparticles for nanophotonics, radiation-hardening of microelectronics, engineering novel alloys with intentional defects and complex compositions, and analysis of catalysts under reaction conditions that enable new sustainable environmental and energy technologies, including plastic waste reduction and hydrogen energy production, storage, and transportation.

This Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) project is jointly funded by the Division of Materials Research (DMR) and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.