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A new three-year, $741,000 grant from the National Science Foundation will enable scientists at Portland State to develop a new microscope capable of viewing the structures and function of DNA, viruses and other organic materials at a higher resolution and with less damage than previously possible.

The project, "Aberration-corrected photoelectron microscope: Opening the nanometer-scale for organic matter microscopy," would create a photoelectron microscope, or PEM, that could view objects as small as one nanometer (one billionth of a meter)-well beyond the current limits of optical resolution at around seven nanometers. The PEM uses focused beams of ultraviolet light, rather than electrons, to illuminate the samples, which is important while working with soft organic materials, such as HIV-infected cells or cells undergoing change due to cancer, which can be damaged by the high-energy electron beams used by other microscopes.

PSU's Rolf Koenenkamp will work with fellow physicist Gertrude Rempfer as well as Ken Stedman, a biologist specializing in extreme viruses, to develop the PEM. The project will create a scientific basis for innovation in the development of electron optical equipments and will enhance PSU's capabilities as a center for nanoscale research and advanced microscopy in the Pacific Northwest.