MicroscopyEducation
Design and Implementation of a Practical,
Hands-On TEM Short Course
Alan Nicholls
1
* and Elaine Schumacher
2
1
Research Resources Center, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago IL 60607,
nicholls@uic.edu
2
McCrone Associates, Westmont, IL 60559
*
nicholls@uic.edu
Introduction
we strive to share our enthusiasm with them and help them to
There has been a general increase in the use of Transmission
enjoy using the TEM.
Electron Microscopy (TEM) in nanotechnology areas by both
Typical Training Scenarios
industrial and academic laboratories. In many cases the scientist
We started by looking at the ways in which microscopists
assigned to the new TEM has little or no prior TEM experience,
typically learn how to use a TEM so that we could tailor the
and although a number of more advanced theoretical courses
course to students from a variety of backgrounds. These may
are offered, a survey of available short courses revealed the lack
include:
of a basic, practical TEM course.
• Being self-taught or taught by a colleague on the job.
In discussions with Mike Kersker from JEOL, it became
• Receiving vendor training on-site by the installation
clear that conventional training by installation engineers is not
engineer or off-site at the vendor premises by an
effective for very inexperienced users, and we decided to offer a
applications scientist.
basic course at the College of Microscopy with an emphasis on
• Attending short courses such as those offered by Lehigh
hands-on training. The College of Microscopy instructors have
University and Arizona State University.
many years of experience teaching a similar Scanning Electron • Receiving university training included in undergraduate
Microscopy course, and the new TEM course was modeled or graduate courses.
after that class. A variety of students have taken the College of Microscopy
We want the students to avoid the fear and frustration course. Some are users who have limited training and want to
that a new TEM operator may experience. We show them how expand their capabilities because they are working with new
things are supposed to look in the TEM so that they can work equipment or applications. Others are technical staff with
with confidence. Every student gets several opportunities to
no formal training in TEM who are, or will be, looking after
practice alignment and learns how to set up the microscope
one or more TEMs. Then there are university faculty who are
to obtain good quality images, XEDS spectra, and electron
not microscopists but use TEM in their research. There are
diffraction patterns. We also emphasize good laboratory
industrial users who are self-taught or had TEM training many
practices, how to monitor and maintain the instrument, and
years ago and need a refresher course in basic operations and
how to communicate effectively with service engineers. We also
new equipment developments. We have also had researchers
provide them with online and published resources to help them
who don’t plan to operate a TEM themselves but have to
gain familiarity with the field of electron microscopy. Finally,
understand TEM data provided by someone else.
COM250 Transmission Electron Microscopy Course
This course is aimed primarily at materials scientists,
although it can also benefit biological scientists interested in
basic TEM operations and use of digital cameras for imaging.
These students can also gain awareness of the growing use of
Figure 1: A laboratory session on the JEM-3010 using the large LCD panels. Figure 2: The schedule for the three-day course.
46 doi: 10.1017/S1551929509000376
www.microscopy-today.com • 2009 September
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