There was a short power outage last night about 5 pm that shut down all the scopes. I came in at 6 pm and restarted all of them. Everything is back online this morning and ready for use.
I repaired the memory battery so now we have all kvs aligned.
I also replaced an aperture and as a result, resolution improved markedly. I’ll be replacing 2 more apertures over the holidays. That will require that I take the SEM offline for a few days. I’ll give you plenty of notice.
The high voltage cable connection is arcing to ground at 100kV. The microscope is unusable like that. We are going to hire the engineer to come back and make this repair possibly as early as 2 weeks from now.
I’ll keep you posted.
There will be ACMAL staff in the labs through the 3 work days – Monday – Wednesday. Thursday and Friday are University holidays and the building will be locked. Only unrestricted users will be able to enter the building and labs. Close the lab doors when you leave the room.
We strongly discourage new users working without assistance nearby.
Here are specific staff schedules.
Ed Laitila will be out all week.
Owen will be out all week.
Jerry will be in Monday – Wednesday.
Pinaki will be in Monday – Wednesday.
Tim will be in Monday – Wednesday.
Danielle will be in from 9-4 Monday – Wednesday. She can help you on
Thursday and Friday if you make an appointment.
As always call if you have trouble. Contact information for all lab staff/students are located on the wall of each lab.
Have a good break!
We have installed a new computer logging system in the Sample Prep room (637) to track liquid nitrogen, and all other coating, ion milling and electropolishing equipment. It is easy to use. Danielle is adding names and account indexes so you won’t have to do that. We will write instructions to use it and you can always call us for help.
Please use the paper logbook too while we are testing the new system out.
We have installed a high-end PC in the M&M Rm 631A (grad computing lab) for accessing Titan image files. We have installed FEI Velox and Gatan software. The plan is to eventually install the JCPDS electron diffraction database too.
The ESEM is working now and ready for use.
Michigan Tech faculty and staff presented a live tour of the FEI 200kV Titan Themis S-TEM facility on Facebook last Wednesday, February 14, 2018.
Introducing the tour was Kelley Christensen, science and technology publications writer for University Marketing and Communications. Steve Hackney, a professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, talked about the atomic scale science and engineering taking place in the housing facility, the Advanced Technology Development Complex (ATDC).
ACMAL Director Owen Mills discussed sample preparation procedures. S-TEM specialist Pinaki Mukherjee demonstrated operation of the instrument and its capabilities.
Facebook Video | YouTube Video
Related:
Atomic Zoom: Michigan Tech’s Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope
The illuminator bulb is replaced.
Danielle Langdon is a new lab assistant in the Electron Optics Facility, working under Owen Mills.
My name is Danielle Langdon. I am currently an undergraduate student in Michigan Tech’s Chemistry program. I’ve lived in the Copper Country for half of my life now and graduated from Hancock Central High. While I was in high school I was active JROTC and Drill Team. I am currently finishing my undergraduate degree and will be graduating in the Spring of 2017. After I graduate, I am interested in pursuing a career in Forensics. When I am not in school or working, I enjoy kayaking, rugby, and self-taught programming.