Electron microscope at UTS

The acquisition of one of the most advanced electron microscopes in the world will propel the University of Technology Sydney into the global forefront of imaging and analysis facilities associated with emerging fields such as nanotechnology and nanoengineering.

Funded mainly with an Australian Research Council grant totalling $500,000, the electron microscope will be sited in the Microstructural Analysis Unit on the Broadway Campus.

Both UTS and the University of Sydney have contributed substantial funding towards purchasing the Schottky field emission gun low vacuum scanning electron microscope, which when installed will be one of only two such instruments in Australia.

The facility will also strengthen the linkages between UTS and the University of Sydney. Researchers will access the combined microscopy and microanalysis resources of both universities.

Growth in sciences related to nanotechnology and nanoengineering has triggered a critical need to image and analyse nanoscale features.

Dr Matthew Phillips, head of the UTS Microstructural Analysis Unit, said the electron microscope would enhance the level of research infrastructure for nanoscale microscopy and microanalysis by providing advanced instrumentation for nanoscale imaging, analysis and manipulation of materials.

Researchers in the University's Nanotechnology Institute will exploit the research potential of a scanning electron microscope that can image and analyse at the millionth of a millimetre scale.

"This instrument will advance the research of staff and students in the Faculty of Science and will fill a major gap in the national research infrastructure for microscopy and microanalysis," Dr Phillips said.

"Previously researchers prepared wet or insulating specimens using time-consuming methods, whereas now they can examine and analyse these at high resolution in their natural state. Specimens can be examined while being heated, frozen, UV irradiated and mechanically deformed under a wide range of controlled conditions."

"Within the microscope's experimental chamber we can look at chemical processes in situ, see what's happening dynamically and capture images at high magnification. Water vapour in the chamber enables us to control humidity, so we can dry or hydrate samples and watch what happens during these processes, or stabilise wet specimens for analysis."