Investigating atomic structures with a new laboratory for the world's strongest microscope
PICO's resolution will be 50 picometres. It will thus be possible for the first
time to individually resolve closely spaced atomic positions (above,
projection). The resolution of the best electron microscopes in the world is
currently no more than 80 picometres (below, high-resolution electron
microscope picture of aluminium nitride). © Forschungszentrum Jülich???aural:Bildende???
The Ernst Ruska-Centre (ER-C) in Jülich will provide materials scientists unique atomic insights as from 2010.
The new microscope called PICO (Advanced Picometre Resolution Project) will enable scientists to investigate atomic structures that were previously inaccessible. The Federal Government and the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia are providing around 15 million euros for the new building and equipment.
Thomas Rachel, State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), called this project a "shining example of how milestones can be achieved through Germany's innovative competitiveness and collaboration between university and non-university research. Scientists will be able to gain completely new insights into the structure of matter with one of the world's most powerful microscopes."
The ER-C develops scientific and technical infrastructures and methods for materials research. It cooperates with companies in the electron optics industry which market ER-C products under licence. The Jülich-Aachen Research Alliance (JARA) is a unique collaborative model in Germany between the RWTH Aachen University and the Forschungszentrum Jülich.
It overcomes the insularity of university and non-university research and teaching to pool resources for research on complex topics with the available expertise and capacities. The RWTH Aachen and the Forschungszentrum Jülich combine specific research fields to complement their individual strengths and create a world-class scientific environment based on the motto "focusing expertise, researching together, shaping the future".
More information: http://www.er-c.org/
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