Applied Chemical and Morphological Analysis Laboratory Newsblog

Yoke Khin Yap, professor of physics at Michigan Tech, led the study. He explains that the behavior his team observed — atomic-level manipulation of gold quantum dots — can be seen with a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM). The STEM’s high-powered beam of electrons enables researchers like Yap to watch atomic movement in real-time and the view reveals how gold atoms interact with the surface of boron nitride nanotubes. Basically, the gold atoms glide along the surface of the nanotubes and, they stabilize in a hover just above the hexagon honeycomb of the boron nitride nanotubes.

S-TEM Images for Al-Sc Alloy

Published April 11, 2019

News

Paul Sanders, Patrick Horvath Endowed Associate Professor of materials science and engineering, and materials science and engineering graduate student Yang Yang, are trying to strengthen aluminum by adding scandium to it.

The aberration-corrected FEI Titan Themis scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) in Michigan Tech’s Applied Chemical and Morphological Analysis Laboratory, makes an electron beam less than an atom in width. This allows researchers to scan through samples one atom column at a time. Additionally, the lab has a SuperXTM X-ray detector, which is an array of four detectors to collect four times more X-rays than a conventional detector.

Combining the two techniques, researchers can element map at atomic resolution.

JEOL ion mill is down

Published April 10, 2019

Status

Shouldn’t be a big deal. Waiting on call from company.

6400 back online

Published April 2, 2019

Status

I got the system working again this morning. It is okay to use it. The problem was that the gun alignment would go wonky and signal would drop to zero – no SE image. If you see anything like this stop and let me know.

6400 SEM is down

Published April 1, 2019

Status

There is a problem with the gun alignment circuit. I let you know how the repair goes.

TEM back online

Published March 29, 2019

Status

And ready for use.

JEOL TEM status

Published March 28, 2019

Status

The water pump is repaired and the system is pumping down overnight. Should be ready tomorrow or Monday. I’ll let you know when you are free to use it.

TEM is down for a few days

Published March 25, 2019

Status

I had trouble replacing the water chiller motor. I ordered another that will be here Wednesday. I should get us back online then.

Logbook System Changes

Published March 7, 2019

Status

IT has rewritten the logbook system software. There are some great new features that we will appreciate. It isn’t ready for installation – on some systems we are going to have to upgrade the thin clients (little computer boxes) to use a newer web browser. We’ll do initial testing on the FIB since it gets less use. These instruments will be upgraded

FESEM
SEM
TEM
FIB
ESEM
Confocal (has newer client – may not need upgrading)
STEM (has newer client – may not need upgrading)

I’ll let you now when we are testing on the FIB.

New EOF Lab Assistant Elizabeth (Fraki) Miller

Published March 6, 2019

News

My name is Elizabeth (Fraki) Miller. I have a bachelor’s degree in Forest Science from Michigan Tech. I am highly involved with several local groups including Ski Tigers, Singletrack Flyers, the SöKē Trails, and the Keweenaw Homeschoolers. I am interested in Nutritional Biochemistry and plan to pursue a Master’s Degree in Chemistry. I enjoy mountain biking, weight lifting, yoga, and cross country skiing.