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BATON ROUGE – On Tuesday, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) announced that the U.S. Army has awarded LSU a $10 million transmission electron microscope.

Kennedy, the only member of Louisiana’s congressional delegation on an appropriations committee, supported LSU’s proposal for the research partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense.

“If America is going to remain the world’s technological leader, we must increase our focus on the next generation of quantum cybersecurity and other tech fields,” said Kennedy. “Louisiana is doing its part to help the U.S. win the technology race. This transmission electron microscope will reinforce LSU’s position as a top research institution that attracts leading educators, research scientists, and students. The investment will also create economic opportunities for Louisiana through the cutting-edge research this microscope makes possible.”

Transmission electron microscopes are the only instruments that allow researchers to examine physical and chemical properties at levels smaller than the atom. These microscopes are a crucial tool in analyzing materials for biomedical research, micro-electronics, and nano-electronics research, as well as for superconductivity research and for the development and manufacturing of materials. Transmission electron microscopes can also advance next-generation quantum information science and technology as well as quantum cybersecurity.

“With this new instrument, we will be able to image and measure all kinds of natural and engineered materials—from cellular to molecular to subatomic scales—at a level of detail found at very few universities,” said LSU Vice President of Research & Economic Development Samuel J. Bentley. “This will form the basis for frontier research in partnership with the Army and other agencies and universities. It will also be a magnet for the best faculty and students to join our LSU team to continue to push the envelope of human knowledge.”

The new microscope will be housed at LSU’s Shared Instrumentation Facility at the heart of the main campus. It will benefit researchers in multiple disciplines, including faculty from the LSU College of Science and the LSU College of Engineering.

“We are excited to add such next-level instrumentation,” LSU College of Science Dean Cynthia Peterson said. “The transmission electron microscope will further advance the university’s research enterprise and support emerging technologies and research efforts in materials and manufacturing science.”

Dr. Dawanne Poree, program manager at the Army Research Office, an element of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Army Research Laboratory, described how the supported transmission electron microscope will help augment research projects of interest to the Army.

“The instrumentation could impact a wide range of research areas, ranging from biomaterials, catalysis, electronics, materials science, and quantum materials; thus, broadly impacting the education and research training of next-generation scientists and engineers in Army-relevant areas,” said Poree.