New Spectrometer

Vice Chancellor Terri L. Lomax and Tony G. Waldrop, vice chancellor for research and economic development at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, were among those present at the dedication of a time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometer (TOF-SIMS) at the NC State Analytical Instrumentation Facility (AIF) on Centennial Campus last week.

Purchase of the TOF SIMS would not have been possible without the pooling of resources from many sources, including the chancellor’s office and six NC State colleges, the UNC-Chapel Hill College of Arts and Sciences, the UNC-Chapel Hill Medical School and the Lineberger Cancer Institute, CREE, Inc. and others. The manufacturer, ION-TOF, also contributed by making a substantial price reduction.  A plaque commemorating the contributors was unveiled in the TOF SIMS laboratory.

The TOF-SIMS provides advanced sub micrometer molecular and elemental surface mapping capability to North Carolina’s universities and industries. This ability to investigate the molecular and elemental structure of almost any solid material is critical for research and development in fields including, but not limited to, energy, fuel cells, batteries, biofuels, biology and medicine, and engineered materials such as semiconductors, polymers and composites.