NIST is constructing a 3,000 square foot Precision Imaging Facility (PIF) on its Boulder campus, scheduled for completion in mid-2012. The facility will house some of the most advanced imaging instruments in the world, enabling researchers to dissect, create, and catalog technologically important materials and devices at the atomic level.
The PIF will be equipped with an aberration-corrected transmission electron microscope (TEM), a combination focused ion beam/scanning electron beam microscope (FIB/SEM), a helium ion microscope, and a local electrode atom probe (LEAP). These instruments will particularly benefit programs that rely on the complex interworking of nanoscale materials and microfabrication technology.
The operational model for the PIF is based on the successful Boulder microfabrication facility, which has been in existence for many years. All projects at NIST Boulder will have access to the PIF, and the facility’s resources will evolve to meet the needs of NIST’s world-class research.
Source: https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2012/06/looking-and-ultra-small
Keywords: nanoscale, materials, metrology, imaging
