RECENT FACILITY UPGRADES
Several of the Shared Facilities have recently undergone substantial upgrades in their capabilities. In a joint effort with the Biochemistry Department, the NMR facility replaced the 300 MHz spectrometer with a 600 MHz instrument. This upgrade expanded the NMR capabilities to include multi-probe experiments on molecules of biological interest. The increased demand on this facility necessitated an addition to the support staff that is currently being negotiated with the University. The Molecular Weight Facility, formerly the Mass Spectroscopy Facility, which is equipped with four state-of-the-art mass spectrometers, was expanded with the acquisition of an analytical ultracentrifuge and a high temperature gel permeation chromatography system.
These enhanced capabilities align this facility with the research directions of the proposed Center. The Optical Microscopy Facility has undergone a substantial expansion with the addition of a laser scanning confocal microscope. Along with the fluorescence and transmission/reflection microscopes, this facility provides capabilities essential to the research proposed in the IRGs and Seed Programs. In addition, phase contrast optics have been purchased to enable the investigation of adsorbed proteins on surfaces, critical to efforts in IRG-I and IRG-II. The Surface Science Facility, currently equipped with two Physical Electronics x-ray photoelectron spectrometers (XPS), has been expanded with the addition of a Physical Electronics XPS equipped with a scanning Auger microprobe that can be used to examine areas as small as 30 m2. Characterization with this lateral resolution is central to research in IRG-I and IRG-II. The Molecular Weight Facility will undergo a refurbishment by updating the software and hardware acquisitions of the existing size exclusion chromatographs. In addition, a new SEC is being purchased to accommodate the time demands placed on existing equipment. In 2004, a water-based SEC will be purchased for the characterization of polymers critical to IRG-III.
X-ray Facility
Instrumentation in the current X-ray Facility, while functional, is aging and requires upgrading. The small angle x-ray scattering instrument and the x-ray reflectometer use a rotating anode generator that is nearly 20 years old. Due to its age, the operation of the generator is unreliable. It is equipped with a vertical target tower that is no longer manufactured and replacement parts are slow to obtain and costly. This translates into extensive down-time, limiting small angle x-ray scattering and reflection capabilities. In conjunction with the Keck Nanostructures Facility has purchased a high resolution SAXS facility capable of resolving spacings up to ~102 nm. The SAXS facility is equipped with a newly designed x-ray target, focusing synthetic multi-layer mirrors ($360,000) and 2-D area detector. The mirrors will optimize the x-ray flux on the sample, enabling time-resolved studies on bulk samples and lower signal-to-noise studies on thin films.
A similar situation exists with the x-ray diffraction equipment in this Facility. X-ray diffraction is central to the research in all IRGs and reliable operation and availability of the instrumentation is key. In 2004, the Center will acquire in a sealed tube x-ray generator with a copper target, along with a wide-angle diffraction geniometer and detection system ($60,000) to ensure the reliable operation of a photometric, x-ray diffractometer.
Electron Microscopy Facility
The Electron Microscopy Facility, established, in part, through funding from the Keck Foundation, contains high and low energy scanning and transmission microscopes along with room temperature and microtoming facilities. These facilities are capable of characterizing a broad range of solid specimens. However, the research of IRG-III focuses on aqueous-based assemblies. As part of an expanded support for the facility to accommodate increasing use and a broadening of the scope of the facility, the University has agreed to a search for an additional support position, and is currently being advertised.
Nanostructures Laboratory
Much of the research proposed in the IRGs and Seed Programs will generate structures or assemblies of nanometer dimension. While the Shared Experimental Facilities are capable of characterizing structures on this size scale, the increased demand that will be placed on existing facilities by the proposed Center, and by two successful Nanoscience Interdisciplinary Research Teams, will limit access. Therefore, in conjunction with a Keck Nanostructure proposal, a variable temperature atomic force microscope, a variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometer, an optical interferonmeter and an optical microscope have been purchased. The University has agreed to hire a Director of the Nanostructures Laboratory, who will operate and maintain the instruments in this facility, train students and visiting scientists on the use of the instruments and participate in the practical training of students on the principles underlying the instruments. In addition, the Director of the Nanostructures Laboratory will aid in the operation and maintenance of the Electron Microscopy Facility, a facility that has been under increasing demand.
