Ernst Ruska-Centre
{{Infobox organization
| name = Ernst Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons
| image = 300px
| abbreviation = ER-C
| established = 27 January 2004
| type = Institute within Forschungszentrum Jülich and User Facility jointly operated with RWTH Aachen
| location = Jülich, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
| coords = {{coord|50|54|29|N|6|24|49|E|region:DE_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| leader_title = Directors
| leader_name = Rafal E. Dunin-Borkowski, Joachim Mayer and Carsten Sachse
| leader_title2 = Founding Director
| leader_name2 = Knut Urban
| num_staff = 50-100
| campus = Jülich Research Centre
| province = North_Rhine-Westphalia
| country = Germany
| affiliations = Jülich Research Centre and RWTH Aachen University
| operating_agency = Jülich Research Centre
| website = {{URL|https://www.fz-juelich.de/er-c}}
}}
The Ernst Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons (ER-C) is an institute located on the campus of Forschungszentrum Jülich belonging to the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres. It comprises three divisions: “Physics of Nanoscale systems”, “Materials Science and Technology” and “Structural Biology”.
The ER-C's main purposes are fundamental research in electron microscopy, focusing on method development and applications of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and scanning-transmission electron microscopy (STEM) in physics, chemistry and biology.
History
As a competence platform, the ER-C was founded on 27 January 2004 through a contract signed by the chairman of Forschungszentrum Jülich Joachim Treusch and the rector of RWTH Aachen University Burkhard Rauhut.{{Cite web|title=Forschungszentrum Jülich - Press releases - Imaging the World of Atoms|url=https://www.fz-juelich.de/SharedDocs/Pressemitteilungen/UK/EN/2004/index4a92_htm.html|access-date=2021-03-22|website=www.fz-juelich.de}} It was inaugurated on 18 May 2006 in the presence of members of the Ernst Ruska family, as well as representatives of the international electron microscopy community.{{Cite web|title=Forschungszentrum Jülich - Press releases - Looking at atoms through the eyes of TITANS|url=https://www.fz-juelich.de/SharedDocs/Pressemitteilungen/UK/EN/2006/index6ea7_htm.html|access-date=2021-03-22|website=www.fz-juelich.de}} On 1 January 2017, the ER-C attained the status of an independent scientific institute in Forschungszentrum Jülich. The ER-C is presently expanding further within the framework of the Research Infrastructure Roadmap of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under the designation ER-C 2.0. The ER-C thus creates incentives for companies dealing with novel materials and technologies to settle in the Rhenish mining area and contribute to the development of a competence region for innovative materials technologies and ultimately to the success of structural change.
Instrumental Resources
The ER-C develops new methods and technologies in the field of electron microscopy, with a special focus on ultra-high-resolution techniques to study solid state materials, soft materials and biological systems. The ER-C houses conventional and state-of-the-art electron microscopes, ranging from standard scanning electron microscopes to highly-specialised aberration corrected instruments offering sub-Å resolution imaging and spectroscopy,{{Cite web|title=Forschungszentrum Jülich - Press releases - Work Begins on Laboratory for World's Most Powerful Microscope|url=https://www.fz-juelich.de/SharedDocs/Pressemitteilungen/UK/EN/2009/index7426_htm.html|access-date=2021-03-22|website=www.fz-juelich.de}} as well as quantitative measurements of electromagnetic field distributions using phase contrast techniques that include off-axis electron holography and 4D STEM. The ER-C currently operates seven aberration-corrected instruments.{{Cite web|title=Forschungszentrum Jülich - Ernst Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons (ER‑C)|url=https://www.fz-juelich.de/er-c/EN/Home/home_node.html|access-date=2021-03-22|website=www.fz-juelich.de}}
On 29 February 2012, the ER-C inaugurated the first chromatic aberration corrected transmission electron microscope in Europe, which is designated “PICO” and is capable of resolving atomic positions in materials with a spatial resolution of 50 picometers and a precision approaching 1 picometer.[http://www.fz-juelich.de/SharedDocs/Pressemitteilungen/UK/EN/2008/index69b8_htm.html Press Release: Electron Microscopy Enters the Picometre Scale] It is also equipped with a monochromator, an electron biprism, an electron energy-loss spectrometer and a direct electron counting detector.
In situ and quantitative electromagnetic field measurements can be carried out using a spherical aberration corrected transmission electron microscope equipped with a large (11 mm) objective pole-piece gap, a double biprism system and a direct electron counting detector. The same microscope is used for ongoing instrumentation development, including ultra-high vacuum sample transfer, laser illumination, in situ magnetising and low temperature experiments.
Recently, cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) became an integral part of the Ernst-Ruska Centre with state-of-the-art cryo-microscopes: 300 kV Titan Krios G4 (operational in Summer 2021) and 200 kV Talos Arctica including Gatan Bioquantum K3 detectors.{{Cite web|title=Forschungszentrum Jülich - Structural Biology (ER-C-3)|url=https://www.fz-juelich.de/er-c/er-c-3/EN/Home/home_node.html|access-date=2021-03-22|website=www.fz-juelich.de}}
Research Programmes
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.fz-juelich.de/er-c/EN/Home/home_node.html Ernst Ruska-Centre for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons (ER-C)]
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