Natural sciences invests in $70,000 microscope

A ThermoFisher scanning electron microscope (SEM) arrived at the Froiland Science Center during the second week of the January 2025 interim. The new piece of equipment — purchased through laboratory equipment supplier Nanoscience Instruments — stands to benefit departments across campus including chemistry, biology and anthropology.

The SEM allows faculty and student researchers to view their samples more closely than ever before at Augustana, down to the level of nanometers — 10 million times smaller than a centimeter. The scope utilizes a crystal powersource of cerium hexaboride to produce a continuous ray of electrons, particles much smaller than even an atom, in order to scan and digitally image the surface of samples.

According to Professor of Chemistry Barrett Eichler, the SEM cost approximately $70,000, which came from an endowed fund called the Roland Wright Chemistry Equipment Fund. Zachary Schulte, assistant professor of chemistry, said that this kind of complex equipment can easily run into the six-figure range and that the university was able to work with Nanoscience Instruments to negotiate a significant discount.

Since the microscope arrived, Schulte said that he has already imaged an assortment of samples, including geodes, butterfly wings and bird feathers. However, he also said that many organic samples often need to undergo a gold-sputtering process — during which a thin layer of conductive material is applied — in order for the microscope and its vacuum inside to effectively scan them. SEMs have the potential to utilize a variety of different attachments that serve various purposes, and Augustana’s SEM does not yet have this capability.

“What I hope is that if we can generate enough interest and support, we can build further attachments onto this, including an elemental detector,” Schulte said. “So not only could you see something at 50,000 times magnification, but I could also tell you where certain elements are within that compound.”

Jennifer Gubbels, division chair of natural sciences, said that she appreciates the opportunity for collaboration that the new piece of equipment will prompt. Schulte and others continue to utilize the SEM or have expressed interest in doing so.

“I am sure that more projects will keep popping up,” Gubbels said. “Since it is brand new, folks may not have been thinking yet about all of the possibilities.”

According to Schulte, interested faculty members outside the chemistry department include biology faculty members Mark Larson, Lisa Baye and Kylene Guse as well as Assistant Professor of Anthropology Trent Trombley.

Some of Schulte’s classes have been making their own crystals and learning to image them. Eichler said he wants to use the SEM this summer with his research students as they look at crystals of antimicrobial compounds, and he intends to evaluate at that time how he may work the use of the SEM into his courses like Advanced Inorganic Chemistry.

Junior chemistry major Ryan Schulte has been learning to use the new microscope in his physical and advanced physical chemistry courses, assisted by Zachary Schulte.

“Getting a microscope of our own here on campus is going to help a lot with our research. It’ll speed up a lot of things,” Ryan Schulte said. “It’ll allow us to characterize more materials and put out better results.”

Previously, the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, South Dakota, held the closest SEM to Augustana, which meant logistical organization and a commute if faculty or student researchers would like to use similar equipment.

According to Zachary Schulte, many SEMs tend to be rather large and can take up entire rooms, but Augustana purchased a smaller SEM that visually resembles a personal computer unit. He also said that finding a space to house the microscope was a bit tricky in a building that also houses various other pieces of equipment: Avoiding strong magnetic fields, excess vibration and other similar disruptive forces is essential.

However, the new microscope has found its home on the third floor of the FSC, where faculty and students are becoming acquainted with it.

“It reminds me a little bit of Ant-Man. Quantumania, right? You shrink down and the whole world's different down here,” Zachary Schulte said. “That's kind of what it's like looking through this instrument. I love to share that experience with students and get them excited about what else is down there.”