The California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) at UCLA has selected FEI for three advanced transmission electron microscopes for its Electron Imaging Center for NanoMachines (EICN) core laboratory
The systems include a 300-kV Titan S/Tem - the world's most powerful commercially-available microscope - a second 300-kV Titan optimised for high-resolution structural biology applications, and a 200-kV Tecnai TF20 for high-throughput electron tomographic studies.
"Seeing molecules, materials and molecular machines in three dimensions is critical to nanoscience," outlined Hong Zhou, faculty director of the Electron Imaging Center for NanoMachines (EICN).
"With these microscopes we will be able to image, characterise and analyse structures down to the atomic scale delivering valuable three-dimensional structural information for cell biological, molecular and materials sciences.
"These systems are essential to our goal of designing a state-of-the-art microscopy facility that will serve the demanding charter of the CNSI".
The CNSI mission is to encourage university collaboration with industry and to enable the rapid commercialization of discoveries in nanosystems.
The work conducted at the CNSI represents world-class expertise in five targeted areas of nanosystems-related research including energy, environment and nanotoxicology; nanobiotechnology and biomaterials; nanomechanical and nanofluidic systems; and nanoelectronics, photonics and architectonics.
"The CNSI leadership fully recognises the central importance of electron imaging to sustained research excellence across these five areas of cross disciplinary nano-scale research," said Leonard Rome, senior associate dean for research in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and associate director of the CNSI.
The new Tem instruments will be installed in the EICN core facility in the newly-constructed CNSI building at UCLA.
The EICN laboratory is one of eight core facilities at the CNSI which will serve both academic and industry collaborations.
CNSI officials outlined that electron imaging represents very powerful and indispensable modern tools for biologists, nano materials scientists and engineers.
Cryo-electron cryomicroscopy (cryoEM) plays an increasingly important role in determining subnanometer-resolution structures of macromolecular complexes or biological nano-machines (>150kDa and 10nm in dimension).
At this resolution, secondary structural elements such as a-helices and b-sheets are readily recognisable and used to build atomic models through integrated modeling approaches.
The emerging method of electron tomography allows the determination of three-dimensional architectures of thin objects ranging in size from a nanometer to micrometers (the size of small cells).
These structural methods provide exciting opportunities to determine the structures of sub-cellular assemblies that are either too large or too flexible/heterogeneous to be investigated by conventional crystallographic or NMR methods.
For materials scientists, high-resolution electron tomography, together with other imaging modalities, such as Stem and electron spectroscopy, will allow the 3D visualisation of internal structures and compositions of novel materials and nano devices at an atomic level, thus permitting a better understanding of the mechanisms of their action and suggest ways for improved designs.
The three new instruments will provide the much-needed resource for over a dozen major users and tens of secondary and potential users with federal funded research projects.
These research groups span multiple departments/institutes among the colleges of physical and life sciences and engineering, as well as the medical school.
"Similar to the Albany Nanotech and other initiatives in Europe and Asia, the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA is in the vanguard of nanoscale research, development and commercialisation of new, nano-enabled technologies that promise to make a global impact," commented Rob Fastenau, executive vice president.
"We are excited about the broad scope of the institute and very pleased that the resolution, reliability and flexibility of FEI's enabling tools will serve the multidisciplinary applications and important work of the CNSI".
The first two systems included in this significant order, booked in the second half of 2006, are expected to ship in the first half of this year and the third system is expected to ship in the fourth quarter of 2007.
California's largest university, UCLA enrolls approximately 38,000 students per year and offers degrees from the UCLA College of Letters and Science and 11 professional schools in dozens of varied disciplines.
UCLA consistently ranks among the top five universities and colleges in the USA in total research-and-development spending, receiving more than $820 million a year in competitively awarded federal and state grants and contracts.
UCLA employs more than 27,000 faculty and staff, has more than 350,000 living alumni and has been home to five Nobel Prize recipients.
