Extreme Close-Up

The College has won a $251K NSF grant to purchase a scanning electron microscope

Students and faculty will soon see the world in a new light on campus. The College has won a $251,418 National Science Foundation grant to purchase a scanning electron microscope (SEM) with energy dispersive spectroscopy  capabilities. 

The new microscope will replace the current, now-defunct SEM in New London Hall acquired in 1996, which was one of the first computer-controlled SEMs obtained by a primarily undergraduate institution. The new SEM will enable interdisciplinary faculty and student research and training in chemistry, biology, botany, environmental sciences and anthropology.

Compared to regular microscopes, the SEM provides much higher magnification, easily imaging structural features 1/100 the diameter of a human hair, explained Professor of Chemistry Stanton Ching. This is because the SEM uses electrons for imaging, which have higher energy and a shorter wavelength compared to visible light. The scanning feature allows observers to move the beam of electrons across a sample, creating images analogous to a drone recording footage over a landscape.

“Students will love using this instrument. It’s not that hard to teach them how to use it, and it’s very visual … it’s almost like a video game,” Ching said. 

Conn will also invite students and faculty with the University of Connecticut at Avery Point and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy to collaborate and share use of the microscope.