Thanks to a $2.5 million federal grant, NIU now possesses a soft X-ray emission spectrometer – one of two in the world.

The funds also will be used to create a Laboratory for NanoSciences, Engineering and Technology, and a Laboratory for Structural Analysis and Computer Modeling.

The soft X-ray emission spectrometer, the prized piece of the Laboratory for NanoSciences, Engineering and Technology, assists in the development of possible nanotechnology by allowing the determination of electronic behavior of nano-material.

‘Nanotechnology is effectively a new field of science,’ physics professor Clyde Kimball said. ‘Micro Electric Mechanical Systems are going to be based on nanotechnology.’

Nanotechnology is a hypothetical method or process of creating microminiature equipment by manipulating atoms and molecules as if they were parts of a machine.

‘The NanoScience lab puts NIU on the cutting edge of research into what many believe will spur the next technological revolution,’ Kimball said.

A magnetic atomic-force microscope, an electron-beam lithography system and a pulsed-laser deposition system are some of the other high-tech equipment NIU is purchasing for the new lab.

NIU President John Peters expects students to use the new Laboratory for Structural Analysis and Computer Modeling to bring NIU to the forefront of the study of materials used in nanotechnology device construction at the molecular level.

‘While the lab is a boon to faculty researchers on campus, our students are big winners,’ he said at Thursday’s State of the University address. ‘They are now learning how to use the most advanced analysis and computer-modeling tools in the nation.’

Biochemistry and Chemistry Chair Jim Erman considers the new lab as an asset to the community.

‘Since our faculty members often serve as consultants to business, [the lab] holds potential to help private industry in our region and beyond,’ Erman said.

The Structural Analysis and Computer Modeling Lab’s new equipment includes a mass spectrometer, a Raman Spectrometer and a network of computers with specialized software designed for computer modeling.