croscopy (SEM) and X-ray Microanalysis course and another. 25 who use the lab for ... images through Adobe Photoshop or NIH plug-ins, but the current version ...
Scanning the Industry
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Scanning the Industry Centralizing University Resources By Phaedra E. McGuinness, Managing Editor Growing class sizes and increased research needs forced one engineering school to reorganize its microscopy and microanalysis resources and to look to industry for digital imaging solutions. In 2001, The University of Missouri-Rolla (UMR) centralized its costly research tools to avoid intra-departmental equipment duplication. The Advanced Materials Characterization Lab (AMCL) was created to cater to the diverse and evolving needs of the engineering students. The lab’s Director and Assistant Professor of Metallurgical Engineering, Scott Miller, maintains a centralized, technologically advanced set-up is crucial in today’s collegial environments. “We have 30 students enrolled in the Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-ray Microanalysis course and another 25 who use the lab for their graduate projects,” he said. “We have a range of students looking at nanoparticles and creating thin films from micro- and nanocrystals, geologists looking at minerals, and ceramic engineering students working on refractory materials.” Having the latest technological equipment at their disposal provides invaluable experience they will later apply in various industries and manufacturing plants. The AMCL houses the transmission, scanning probe, and auger electron microscopes, along with x-ray diffractometers, and tunneling and atomic force microscopes, where students learn in a hands-on environment (Fig. 1). As another improvement, the UMR lab upgraded from using traditional film for recording images, to capturing images digitally. This shaved the department’s budget by approximately $7,000 a year. Miller explained that the department purchased a digital imaging system “but it was limited only to capturing digital images at the speeds and resolutions inherent to the SEM.” He then purchased an image capture and x-ray microanalysis system from 4pi Analysis, Inc. (Durham, N.C.) that has direct active control over the electron beam with resolution to greater than 8,000×8,000 pixels, regardless of an instrument’s limits. As a teacher, Miller appreciates the simplicity and the ability to fine-tune parameters for more advanced researchers. “The images captured are spectacular,” he added. Originally, users acquired images through Adobe Photoshop or NIH plug-ins, but the current version “Revolution” is self-sufficient. “My students can switch to analysis mode and capture, analyze, and quantify energy dispersive spectra (EDS) for chemical analysis, and perform compositional mapping with a provision to store EDS data from the specimen being analyzed at every pixel in the acquired image,” Miller added. The digital upgrade has precipitated discussions on the ethics of image processing. As he explained, “we discuss the fact that if students publish a micrograph that has been image processed, they should explain carefully what was done, so others can reproduce it.” The investment in a digital imaging
FIG. 1 Students in the Advanced Materials Characterization Lab at the University of Missouri-Rolla use an Hitachi scanning electron microscope and 4pi Analysis, Inc. digital imaging software to capture images during a lab session.
system can run from $10,000 to $50,000 (including x-ray analysis) but Miller believes it is indispensable. According to Scott Davilla, CEO of 4pi Analysis, Inc. the company caters to those performing x-ray analysis with electron microscopes, (usually university labs, government agencies, forensics and concrete companies). “For example, if someone is pouring concrete for a building, they may want to perform a stress test to determine when it will fail. By looking at the distributions of the concrete mix, one can tell whether it's a good or bad batch. Or, if a building falls down and someone wants to analyze the concrete, they can determine if the concrete was contaminated and, if so, whether the problem occurred before or after it was poured,” he explained. Davilla also serves as the company’s senior scientist and research and development engineer and says that, historically, users don’t know what type of dynamic range they will have for an image. Programmers therefore designed “Revolution” as a 4 channel 16-bit program. This relates directly to the resolution and interpixel spacing uniformity of the images acquired. “If you made a mistake and compressed an image too much and want to expand it, with an 8-bit image you’ll see gradients. If you do it with 16-bit you have a large, dynamic range and can easily stretch it out without gradient effects,” he said. Davilla has assisted with high-level technical support problems and Miller has served as a beta tester for unreleased versions. Feedback is based on the needs of the students, and may ultimately be incorporated into new software versions. The reorganization of resources and transition to digital image acquisition marks a new beginning for the University of Missouri Rolla—and a tradition that promises to evolve with the contributions of each new student and professor. The opinions and comments stated in this article are not necessarily those of the publisher or editors.Publication does not imply support or endorsement of any products or service.
