Designed to Cell; Grant Provides One-of-a-Kind Microscope for Nano-sized Research

The University of Idaho recently received a grant from the National Science Foundation's Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program for $527,050 to acquire an "all-in-one" microscope and spectroscopy system for physical and chemical analysis of materials with very high spatial resolutions. The new microscope will provide cutting-edge interdisciplinary science and engineering at the nanoscale.

The only one of its kind in the Northwest and among only a handful in the world, the scope can view images roughly 10,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair. Objects of this size-range fall in between the dimensions of large molecules and things seen with traditional optical microscopes, such as plant and animal cells.

The new instrument will integrate conventional optical microscopy modes, such as fluorescence and confocal scanning, with Raman spectroscopy and the nanoscale imaging techniques of scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM).

These combined capabilities may be operated under air or liquid environments to study anything from simple metal or ceramic films to complex biological materials systems.

"The unifying feature we will all take advantage of with this new instrument is the ability to probe exactly the same sample feature with multiple microscopy and spectroscopy techniques - physical, optical and chemical, either simultaneously or with a relatively simple switching of modes," commented Principal Investigator Eric Aston, a chemical engineering professor at the University of Idaho.

The all-in-one microscope will support ongoing research projects funded by the university's Strategic Initiative for Biological Applications of Nanotechnology (BANTech), the NSF and NSF/Idaho-EPSCoR-funded investigations of responsive nanomaterials and microfluidics for chemical sensors development, and others.

"The success of our proposal for this microscope can be in part attributed to the establishment of the EPSCoR support for the nanoscience program and BANTech," said David McIlroy, Idaho physics professor. "These two programs have helped bring like-minded people together to formulate strategies, such as acquiring this microscope to fill a void in our research capabilities."

This collaborative integration of high-tech tools is the culmination of a rapidly increasing need to study increasingly smaller bits of materials to advance science and technology in materials-related fields, such as biomedical engineering, microelectronics, environmental remediation, advanced energy and fuels and low-level chemical detection.

"I'm interested in learning how biological materials are assembled by nature at the molecular level and then relating that to why natural fibers, for example, are so strong and light," said Armando McDonald, Idaho professor of wood chemistry and wood composites.

The microscope should be in place by next summer. The team of faculty collaborating to bring it to the University of Idaho includes Aston, McDonald, McIlroy, Idaho chemistry professor Peter Griffiths and civil and environmental engineering professor Marie Laborie of Washington State University.

September 18, 2006