A powerful microscope that will be used for the development of plastic electronics has been installed at the University of Cambridge, to support research.
The new electron microscope was officially unveiled recently by David Willetts, minister for universities and science.
The microscope's power will facilitate pioneering research as it will enable scientists to view and analyse structures at a small scale, including device structures for fabricating low-energy lighting such OLEDs and emerging solar cells for renewable energy technologies.
The FEI Titan3 Electron Microscope will also be used in another cleantech project, to examine ultraviolet (UV) lighting technology that can be used to purify water by killing bacteria and viruses.
The microscope will further research into Alzheimer's and other degenerative diseases and will benefit both existing and emerging industries in the UK that can use nanotechnology and nanomaterials to develop advanced technologies and products.
Nanoscale tools
US-based FEI is a leading diversified supplier of scientific instruments company such as electron and ion-beam microscopes and tools for nanoscale applications across several industries. Its equipment is installed in many universities, research institutes and forensics labs around the world, including California Institute of Technology, Brazil's Instituto Nacional de Criminalistica and the Indian Institute of Science. There has also been growing demand for FEI's tools for electronics research, for silicon semiconductor technology and also the burgeoning fields of nanoelectronics and plastic electronics.
Cambridge University's Nanoscience Centre provides open access to over 300 researchers from the university's departments. The centre is currently engaged in a research project in the field of plastic electronics to characterise the electrical properties of conducting polymers at the nanometre scale.
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FEI
Website of the maker of the Titan3 Electron Microscope
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