Located in PSF | Stewarded by Dan Edwards, Reactor Materials and Mechanical Design Group
Scientist Nicole Overman uses the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) for surface microstructure and chemical analysis of structural and nuclear materials.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory | Andrea Starr
Mission
The JSM−7600F SEM’s mission is to foster a wide range of analytical characterization on both non-dispersible radiological and non-radiological samples. Researchers routinely rely on it for mapping chemical and structural inhomogenties in conventional and friction stir welds over large areas, as well as high-resolution montaging to identify defects, such as cracks due to stress corrosion. This level of detail is possible due to its thermally assisted, Schottky, field emission scanning electron microscope (ESEM) which provides both ultrahigh-resolution and a very high, very stable probe current for optimum analytical performance.
The Reactor and Mechanical Design Group recently updated the instrument with a high speed Oxford Symmetry electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) system and a Ultim energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) system, enabling unparalleled speed for acquiring high-resolution data over a range of length scales, from the millimeter to the nanometer. Its high resolution capabilities (sub-nanometer probes), coupled with the ability to operate over a range of accelerating voltages from 30 keV to 0.1 keV, enables analytical composition and structural analysis to be performed with ease on a wide variety of conducting and non-conducting materials at resolutions below 10 nm. While its primary usage is for structural materials research, the trained users on this microscope can apply this instrument to a wide range of research needs.
Features
Related Publications:
Nicole Overman, S. A. Whalen, M.E. Bowden, Matt Olszta, Karen Kruska, J.T. Darsell, Vineet Joshi, X. Jiang, K.F. Mattlin, S.N. Mathaudhu. 2017. "Homogenization and texture development in rapidly solidified AZ91E consolidated by Shear Assisted Processing and Extrusion (ShAPE)." Materials Science and Engineering: A Volume 701, 31 (56-68).