October 20, 2009
Bowling
Green, Ky. - Western Kentucky University’s Applied Physics Institute will be receiving a $2.7 million gift from the U.S. Department of Energy – one of the world’s largest scanning electron microscopes.
“For the University, the SEM is a unique instrument that places WKU at the forefront of scientific research,” said Dr. Edward Kintzel, assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and project manager who acquired the instrument for WKU.
Dr. Kintzel said similar large-chamber SEMs (LC-SEM) are typically located at research facilities or military installations. The SEM will be moved later this year from Oak Ridge National Laboratory to WKU’s API facility, located in the Center for Research and Development on Nashville Road.
When the SEM is installed and operational by early in the spring 2010 semester, the instrument will be publicly accessible, he said.
“We will become a national and international nexus for novel scientific research,” said Dr. Kintzel, who had worked as a postdoctoral research associate with the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. “We are looking for partnerships around the country for companies who would like to be able to improve the quality of their products by taking advantage of unique capabilities this instrument offers. This is a win for the company, a win for the general public in improvement of products that affect their daily lives, and a win for the University as we strive to become a national and international leader in materials science.”
The LC-SEM is a one of a kind instrument that weighs about 18,000 pounds and has a scanning chamber that accommodate a sample up to 40 inches in diameter, 40 inches tall and up to 650 pounds (large enough for an automobile engine block), which means samples don’t have to be cut into small pieces for examination. A conventional SEM’s maximum sample size is 2 inches in diameter and 2 inches tall.
The instrument can magnify up to 100,000 times and offers high-resolution imaging for surface analysis, chemical analysis, materials identification, quality control, metal microstructure, subsurface examination and more.
“This instrument has an incredible, wide-range of applications for businesses, industries and our campus,” Dr. Kintzel said. “The SEM will benefit a broad spectrum of disciplines not only across Ogden College of Science and Engineering, but across the university. Unique experimental teaching labs can be created to the benefit our students.”
More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu and at http://wkunews.wordpress.com/. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.
For information, contact Edward Kintzel at (270) 745-6200.
-WKU-
"A leading American university with international reach"
Office of Media Relations
Western Kentucky University
1906 College Heights Blvd., Bowling Green, Ky. 42101-3576
Phone: (270)745-4295 - Fax: (270)7455387 - E-Mail: western@wku.edu