In the microelectronic semiconductor world we are bombarded with reports of how the drive toward faster, denser, lower power-consuming and more reliable semiconductor products will accelerate with time. This paper discusses the instrumental evolution from visible light microscopy to scanning electron microscopy and on to transmission electron microscopy and scanned probe microscopy. The increased demands placed on specimen preparation of precise locations in a semiconductor chip for microscopy are discussed. Analytical microscopy has to be timely in order to be a viable adjunct to semiconductor manufacturing. The factors governing analysis of turn-around time are explained and an optimum strategy is suggested for effective utilization of finite laboratory resources. The new instrumentation available to the microscopist is introduced along with an overview of the exciting new analyses that will be available in the immediate future.

Specimens that charge under electron beam irradiation in the scanning electron microscope (SEM) can be stabilized by choosing the beam energy to be such a value that the sum of the secondary and backscatter electron yields is unity, as this establishes a dynamic charge balance. We show here that for pure elements, the energies El and E2, for which charge balance occurs, are related directly to the atomic number of the material. Although generally there is no comparable relation for compounds, we also show that for polymers, the E2 energy is related both to the ratio of the number of valence electrons to molecular weight and to the electro-negativity of the monomer units that form the polymer.

Colloidal gold, conjugated to ligands or antibodies, is routinely used as a label for the detection of cell structures by light (LM) and electron microscopy (EM). To date, several methods to count the number of colloidal gold labels have been employed with limited success. Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA), a physical method for the analysis of the elemental composition of materials, can be used to provide a quantitative index of gold accumulation in bulk specimens. Given that gold is not naturally found in biological specimens in any substantial amount and that colloidal gold and ligand conjugates can be prepared to yield uniform bead sizes, the amount of label can be calculated in bulk biological samples by INAA. Here we describe the use of INAA, LM, transmission EM, and X-ray microanalysis (EDX) in a model to determine both distribution (localization) and amount of colloidal gold at the organ, tissue, cellular, and ultrastructural levels in whole animal systems following administration. In addition, the sensitivity for gold in biological specimens by INAA is compared with that of inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The correlative use of INAA, LM, TEM, and EDX can be useful, for example, in the quantitative and qualitative tracking of various labeled molecular species following administration in vivo.

We have developed a microwave protocol for a paraffin-embedding microtechnique of the shoot apical meristem of Zea mays and have successfully applied this protocol to other plant tissues. This protocol decreases the time required for all aspects of microtechnique tissue processing, including fixation (24 hr to 15 min), dehydration (73 hr to 10 min), and infiltration (96 hr to 3 hr). Additionally, the time required to adhere paraffin ribbons to gelatin-coated slides and for the Johanson's safranin O, fast green FCF staining protocol has been significantly decreased. Using this technique, the quality of tissue preservation and subsequent in situ localization of knotted mRNA was increased by using microwaves.

A technique has been developed to provide real-time imaging, with several nanometer resolution, of organometallic chemical vapor deposition (CVD) by scanning electron microscopy under conditions approaching those used in the microelectronics industry. The technique involves modifications to an environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) to facilitate organometallic precursor gas handling and sample heating. To demonstrate the usefulness of this technique for studying the microstructural evolution of CVD-grown metal films, results of Al/SiO2 CVD experiments are presented.

In many cases in experimental science, the instrument interface becomes a limiting factor in the efficacy of carrying out unusual experiments or prevents the complete understanding of the acquired data. We have developed an advanced interface for scanning probe microscopy (SPM) that allows intuitive rendering of data sets and natural instrument control, all in real time. The interface, called the nanoManipulator, combines a high-performance graphics engine for real-time data rendering with a haptic interface that places the human operator directly into the feedback loop that controls surface manipulations. Using a hand-held stylus, the operator moves the stylus laterally, directing the movement of the SPM tip across the sample. The haptic interface enables the user to “feel” the surface by forcing the stylus to move up and down in response to the surface topography. In this way the user understands the immediate location of the tip on the sample and can quickly and precisely maneuver nanometer-scale objects. We have applied this interface to studies of the mechanical properties of nanotubes and to substrate-nanotube interactions. The mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes have been demonstrated to be extraordinary. They have an elastic modulus rivaling that of the stiffest material known, diamond, while maintaining a remarkable resistance to fracture. We have used atomic-force microscopy (AFM) to manipulate the nanotubes through a series of configuration that reveal buckling behavior and high-strain resilience. Nanotubes also serve as test objects for nanometer-scale contact mechanics. We have found that nanotubes will roll under certain conditions. This has been determined through changes in the images and through the acquisition of lateral force during manipulation. The lateral force data show periodic stick-slip behavior with a periodicity matching the perimeter of the nanotube.

X-ray Diffraction: A Practical Approach, C. Suryanarayana and M. Grant Norton, 1998. Plenum Press, New York and London. xiii + 273 pages. (hardback, $49.50, U.S. and Canada; $59.40, elsewhere).

It is the aim of this text to teach undergraduates majoring in materials science the use of powder X-ray diffraction for materials characterization. Since it does not treat X-ray diffraction and crystallography in a general way, it would have been better if it were given a more specific title, such as X-Ray Powder Diffraction for Metallurgical Characterization. A Primer and Workbook. As a laboratory course with work pages to be filled out by the student, it might have been spiral-bound to facilitate such use.

The father of instrumental microanalysis, Raymond Castaing, died on April 10, 1998. With him, we lost one of the outstanding figures in modern materials characterization. He was creative and innovative in physical research, in invention of instruments, in teaching, and in science management. At a time when science tends toward an inexorable division into smaller and more specialized provinces, an investigator of truly wide-ranging interests and capabilities, in the best traditions of renaissance curiosity, has left us.

Joint meeting of the Microscopy Society of America (57th) and the Microbeam Analysis Society (33rd).

The Local Arrangment Committee (LAC) welcomes attendees to Portland and has put together several social events for the Microscopy & Microanalysis '99 meeting that we hope registrants and their families will enjoy. A list of those events and other happenings in the greater Portland area can be obtained on our web page at: http:// www.ohsu.edu/core. Briefly, for those of you arriving on Saturday and who would like the opportunity to have a taste of the region's award-winning lagers, porters, and stouts that evening, there will be a brew bus tour of several of the local pubs. On Sunday morning, for the golf enthusiast, we are sponsoring the annual golf tournament at the spectacular Skamania Lodge in the heart of the Columbia River Gorge. The course is located right off the Columbia River, in Washington, not far from Portland.

This list contains brief descriptions of each of the positions known to be open in Microscopy Society of America (MSA) Placement Office files. Potential employers are urged to use the Placement Office as widely as possible to advertise their needs to MSA members. Likewise, MSA members who are seeking employment in microscopy are urged to register with the Office to receive data on open positions periodically.

Following is a list of microscopy-related meetings and courses. The editors would greatly appreciate input to this list via the electronic submission form found in the MSA World-Wide Web page at http:// www.msa.microscopy.com/. We will gladly add hypertext links to the notice on the Web and insert a listing of the meeting in the next issue of the Journal. Send comments and questions to Barbara Reine, [email protected] or Nestor Zaluzec, [email protected].