National Center for Electron Microscopy Opens New Wing
April 18, 1997
By Ron Kolb, RRKolb@LBL.gov
The "ribbon," a photo reproduction of atoms of aluminum and germanium, gave the
estimated 200 visitors on hand for the ceremony a glance at the power and
capabilities of the center's microscopes, three of which were dedicated that
day. In particular, the One Angstrom Microscope (OAM), once fully operational,
will achieve unprecedented resolution for the study of atomic structure and
behavior.
Shank reflected the promise of the new instrumentation, which will "open up new
directions for scientific investigation, new vistas of discovery." He said NCEM
epitomizes Lab founder Ernest Orlando Lawrence's vision of bringing teams of
scientists together to utilize complex instruments in solving national problems
of scale.
NCEM Director Uli Dahmen said the facility's new wing and upgrades, which
include second-floor office space for user-visitors and five additional
microscopes (three in the wing), are important for establishing NCEM as "the
leading center for electron microscopy in the world." Many in the audience were
conferees from
an afternoon symposium on the role of electron microscopy in science and
technology, held in Perseverance Hall.
Dahmen cited the contributions of many to the completion of the project--the
Department of Energy, which provided the vision and funding; IBM, for its gift
of the Spin Polarized Low Energy Electron Microscope (SPLEEM) in the new wing;
and Philips Electron Optics, which built the One-Angstrom Microscope and
provided a training and research fellowship. Remarks and congratulations were
offered by Helen Farrell, of DOE's Basic Energy Sciences program; Barbara
Jones, manager for magnetic materials and phenomena at IBM's Almaden Research
Center, and Mike Thompson, general manager and president of Philips Electron
Optics.
Dahmen also noted the invaluable assistance of Berkeley Lab personnel in the
project-- the facilities department, who "took this new wing from the drawing
board to reality, on budget and on schedule"; the scientific and technical
staff of NCEM; the offices of finance, purchasing and legal counsel; the
Oakland Operations Office of DOE; and the support staffs of NCEM and Materials
Sciences.
He took special note of the accomplishments of two Lab employees who recently
died--Greg Raymond, who was an architect for the new wing, and Mark Fendorf, a
microscopist and materials scientist at NCEM. "I want to thank them for their
contribution," Dahmen told the audience, "and of their colleagues and friends I
would request that when you take your first drink at the refreshment table in
the courtyard, you drink not only to the center's health, but to the memory of
Greg and Mark, who had to leave before their time."
Of the three new microscopes that were unveiled on a tour following the
ceremony, the One Angstrom Microscope is creating the most buzz. The OAM will
be able to peer deep inside a material and resolve images to within a single
angstrom, which is about the diameter of a hydrogen atom. For example, using
computer alignment and reconstruction, the instrument will be used to get a
first-time view of the oxygen atoms in oxide superconductors.
SPLEEM, the result of a $1 million donation from IBM, will give scientists
their first molecular-level look at the interplay between magnetism and atomic
structure at nanometer resolution. Surface magnetic behavior holds the key to
advances in reading and writing high-density information on computer disks.
A state-of-the-art analytical microscope known as CM200FEG is capable of
identifying the presence of trace impurities in the most minute amounts of
materials, at near-atomic levels. It can give scientists a map of atomic bonds
at interfaces between materials and measure the distribution of magnetic
particles.
NCEM, which was established in 1983, now boasts eight microscopes and a
cutting-edge computer facility, which are used by more than 100 visiting
scientists from around the world each year.
Berkeley Lab Director Charles Shank, wielding an oversized pair of scissors,
sliced a special ribbon on April 4 that signaled the opening of the
Laboratory's newest facility -- a new wing of the National Center for Electron
Microscopy (NCEM).
