Cryogenic Focused Ion Beam Scanning Electron Microscope (cryo-FIB-SEM)

• Subject Area: Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry
• Term: Funded in 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 396827842

The proposed cryogenic, focused ion beam, scanning electron microscope (cryo-FIB-SEM) will combine cryogenic preservation techniques with high resolution imaging, and advanced analytical methods into a single instrument. This unique configuration will further cement the University of Tuebingen at the heart of developments in environmental, biological and life sciences within Germany and the world. The instrument itself is capable of a wide range of applications which will be used to resolve the aggregation properties of microbes with minerals in the environment, study the movements of joints in insect appendages, develop understanding of the repeating crystal units that make up shells and fossils, probe electron carrying capacity of biological nanowires which are generated by bacteria, and many other exciting research frontiers. The cryo-FIB-SEM will form an integral part to a new research center, i.e. the Geound Umweltforschungszentrum (GUZ), which will be completed in mid-2018. The GUZ building will combine many geosciences within one central location in close proximity to the majority of the departments within the faculty of science.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Cryogenic Focused Ion Beam Scanning Electron Microscope (cryo-FIB-SEM)
• Instrumentation Group: 5120 Rasterelektronenmikroskope (REM)
• Applicant Institution: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen
• Leader: Professor Dr. Andreas Kappler