Wisconsin Centers for Nanoscale Technology
The University of Wisconsin – Madison, College of Engineering, Wisconsin Centers for Nanoscale Technology are shared instrumentation facilities providing equipment, facilities, and expertise in microelectronics, nano-fabrication technology, electron microscopy, micro-analysis and soft materials characterization in support of the University’s research endeavor.
Transmission Electron Microscopy
The Electron Microscopy Facility is a joint BSD/PSD resource available to all campus researchers. Users have access to an FEI Tecnai F30 scanning/transmission electron microscope. The microscope has a point-to-point resolution of 0.2 nm when operated in the TEM mode and a spatial resolution of 0.2 nm for the STEM mode.The facility is located in the sub-basement of the Gordon Center for Integrative Science, right next to the MRSEC shared facilities. This forms a synergistic cluster with the SEM and SPM instrumentation maintained by MRSEC’s Materials Prep Lab. The Electron Microscopy facility provides sample preparation, imaging, consultation, and training services for transmission electron microscopy.
Physical Science services include: phase-contrast TEM imaging which provides information on materials structures at atomic resolution; diffraction contrast imaging which is used for morphology and defect investigation; STEM Z-contrast imaging which presents information not only on crystal structure but also on chemical composition at atomic resolution; electron diffraction that can be used for crystal structure and orientation investigation; elemental analysis using X-ray energy-dispersive spectrometry; and tomography for 3D structure determination. This TEM is used extensively for imaging of polymer and nanocrystal samples (IRG 2).
Biological Science services include: Classic chemical fixation and cryopreservation; tissue embedding; sectioning; negative staining; immunocytochemistry, and imaging. Also, available is 3-D electron tomography of samples, which allows accurate three-dimensional reconstruction of biological samples at 5 – 7 nm resolution. This method is proving to be indispensable for understanding how molecular structures are linked to cellular architecture and function. An added benefit will be the capacity to perform correlated fluorescence and 3D electron microscopy. Correlative microscopy is an emerging technique that utilizes the complementary visual techniques of light microscopy, the ability to localize macromolecular structures of interest, and electron microscopy, which provides high-resolution cellular context. The combination of both LM/EM would allow researches to capture populations of cells, identify cellular features or fluorescently labeled proteins of interest, and then capture high-resolution (3-7 nm) three-dimensional cellular volume reconstructions of pre-identified cellular regions, with high sensitivity and spatial precision
NanoSystems Laboratory (NSL)
NanoSystems Laboratory is a user facility located on the main campus of the Ohio State University (Columbus, OH) in the Physics Research Building. The facility is open to all interested users on the user fee basis. Our goal is to provide academic and industrial users with access to advanced material characterization and fabrication tools for research and development applications. Research capabilities available at ENSL include focused ion beam/scanning electron microscopy, e-beam lithography, nanomanipulation, EDS X-ray microanalysis, X-ray diffractometry, SQUID magnetometry, atomic force/magnetic force microscopy, low temperature magnetotransport measurements.
Center for Electron Microscopy and Analysis (CEMAS)
The Center for Electron Microscopy and Analysis (CEMAS) at OSU provides state-of-the-art analytical electron microscopy services to OSU, central Ohio and the broader community.
Multi-Angle Light Scattering Instrument
The LRSM installed a new Multi-angle Light Scattering Instrument – an LS Spectrometer, from LS instruments in the Spring of 2023. This instrument enables a broad range of materials characterization through static and dynamic light scattering. Capabilities enabled by the SLS/DLS instrument include particle size determination, studies of relaxation dynamics, and investigation of thermodynamic interactions of species in suspension (e.g., nanoparticles; polymers; colloidal species).
The instrument is equipped with a 3D Cross-correlation capability that enables it to distinguish intensity decorrelation that originates from single vs multiple scattering events. As a result, the instrument can be used to collect dynamic light scattering data from samples that exhibit multiple scattering, i.e. concentrated, opaque systems. The Modulated 3D Cross-Correlation option enhances the signal from the cross-correlation measurement. Additional options include sample rotation (for measurements of non-ergodic systems), and temperature resolved measurements.
Standard measurements:
- Particle sizing: hydrodynamic Radius (Rh) and radius of gyration (Rg)
- Size distribution and polydispersity
- Particle dynamics: diffusion coefficient, mean square displacement,
- Polymer molecular weight (MW ~ 360 – 3600000 Dalton)
- 2nd virial coefficient
- Rayleigh ratio
- Form and structure factors
- Inter-particle distance in charged systems
- Aggregation
- Etc.
Specifications:
| Sample volume | 50 μL to 4 ml |
| Particle size range (Rh) | 0.15 nm to 5 μm |
| Radius of gyration (Rg) | 5 nm to 5 μm |
| Molecular weight | 360 – 3,600,000 Dalton |
| Angular range | 12° to 150° (+/- 0.01°) Recommended 15° to 150° |
| Laser | Fiber-coupled laser 120 mW, 638 nm |
| Correlator | 320 channels, delay time 12.5 ns to 15 h, auto- and cross-correlation |
| Temperature | up to 90 °C |
For light scattering tutorials:
- LS Spectrometer User Manual
- LS Instrument Training Presentation
- Manual Zim Plot
- Reports and Additionals (Access request needed for download)
- Python Code Demo for Plotting
Device Fabrication & Measurements
Device Fabrication and Measurements Laboratories include e-beam lithography system (Roberts 140, MSE Department), micro-contact printing (Bagley 195, Xia), and dip-pen lithography and vacuum deposition (Bagley 13B, Ginger). Device measurements include photonic (Roberts 209, Jen) and electronic (EE B052, Parviz) techniques. Contact Dr. Hanson Fong for details.
Nanoscale Imaging, Spectroscopy and Properties (NISP) Lab
The Nanoscale Imaging, Spectroscopy and Properties (NISP) Lab is relatively new but already contains some excellent equipment that is available to everyone in the University and to government and industry. It is connected to MRSEC via funding and/or other collaborative effort. NISPLab is dedicated to the characterization of the structure and composition of a broad spectrum of hard and soft materials and biological systems with nanometer resolution. These capabilities are used for research, and the teaching and training of students. The research performed in the laboratory is focused on the characterization of materials and structures in the areas of biomaterials, multifunctional and smart materials, nanostructured materials, nanodevices and geological materials. Equipment includes a JEM 2100 LaB6 transmission electron microscope (TEM) coupled with fiber optic, video-rate imaging, allowing observation of devices and conditions both in situ and in real time; a Hitachi SU-70 field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) equipped with an energy-dispersive x-ray spectrometer (EDS) used for elemental mapping; a JEOL 2100F atomic-resolution field emission transmission electron microscope (FE-TEM); and a JEOL JXA-89 electron microprobe equipped with a wavelength-dispersive x-ray spectrometer (WDS), used primarily in materials and geology research.
X-Ray Facility
X rays - discovered by W.C. Rontgen in 1895 - have become established as an invaluable probe of the structure of matter. Progress in understanding the interaction between x rays and matter and of exploiting X rays experimentally has been increasing steadily since its discovery. In more recent times this has lead to unraveling the structure and morphology of compounds of increasing complexity like self-assembling molecular systems, including functional units of bio-organisms like DNA and proteins. MRSEC has funded within the Department of Polymer Science and Engineering an X-Ray Facility with several modern instruments for x-ray scattering (small, intermediate and wide angles), powder x-ray diffraction, and x-ray reflectivity studies of thin films.
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