Category: Status

All equipment status updates.

E-SEM: EBSD Detector Down

The EBSD detector on the ESEM has been damaged and the phosphor screen will need to be replaced. We are in contact with Oxford and hope to have the repairs completed in the next few weeks.  The ESEM is still available for SE/BSE imaging and EDS analysis.

Please remember EBSD is only to be performed by highly-skilled, trained users who have been trained by ACMAL staff to use the EBSD detector. This is a very sensitive process and the detector can easily be damaged. Users with large SEM samples also need to be careful not to hit the detectors. Repairs are costly and result in instrument downtime.

ACMAL: Update to Reservation Limit

Please note that the ACMAL reservation limit for the Origin+ Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) has been extended from 4 hours to 6 hours during normal business hours. The updated policy can be found on the reservations page of our website.

Trained users may reserve instruments during normal business hours (8 a.m. – 5 p.m.) Monday through Friday. Reservations outside of normal business hours require special permission.

During working hours, do not exceed a four hour reseservation on instruments except the Origin+ Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). AFM reservations should not exceed 6 hours. Longer reservations are available with permission.

If you have any questions please let me know.

Recent Advances in ACMAL STEM Facility on January 22

Pinaki Mukherjee
Pinaki Mukherjee

Join us for the first seminar of the Spring Semester at 1 p.m. Friday (Jan. 22) via Zoom (passcode 645507).

Pinaki Mukherjee (MSW) will present ” Recent Advances in ACMAL STEM Facility.” This talk presents an overview of state-of-the-art capabilities of the aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope (ac-STEM) at ACMAL, Michigan Tech.

Mukherjee joined Michigan Tech in January of 2018. He obtained his PhD in Materials Engineering from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He worked as a post-doctorate researcher at Rutgers University, The State University of New Jersey. He was an affiliate of the National Center for Electron Microscopy, at Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory.

XPS Operational

The XPS is operational and is available for use. Please note that the sputter gun, that is used for sputtering and depth profile analysis, is currently not functioning properly and is temporarily unavailable. Email me (at trleftwi@mtu.edu) if you are interested in XPS (or Auger) analysis.

Dr. Timothy Leftwich
Research Assistant Professor
ACMAL Surface Scientist
Material Science and Engineering
trleftwi@mtu.edu