Greetings

Welcome to our website of the Research Center for Ultra-High Voltage Electron Microscopy, Osaka University. I was appointed as the director of the center on May 1, 2022. When I was an elementary school student, the International Exposition held at Suita, Osaka in 1970 (EXPO'70) strongly inspired me to become a researcher in science and engineering. A few years later, it was reported that the movement of metal atoms was successfully observed in detail for the first time in the world with the state-of-the-art electron microscope completed at Osaka University. The news was also impressive for me because such the cutting-edge instrument was placed at the university that was not far from my hometown. This news was convinced to report a great achievement by the first ultra-high voltage electron microscope at this center, as judged from the “History” page. With such experiences, I am greatly honored to have the opportunity to belong to this center which had a great impact on my life planning.

Recent technological advances in electron microscopes have made tremendous progress regarding not only observing materials at the molecular and atomic levels, but also dramatically improving the resolution in chemical analysis of the specimen. The electron microscope technology that realizes “a picture is worth a thousand words" in the natural science is providing accurate information on structure and composition of the microscopic regions of inorganic and organic materials. However, the relationship between the observed micro-regions and the entire structure is often the subject of debate, as the saying goes, you cannot see the wood for the trees. The “Ultra-High Voltage Electron Microscope,” which is included in this center name, is a unique electron microscope that enables viewing wide range of materials with high resolution under favor of the world's highest acceleration voltage of 3 million volts. We are promoting research in pursuit of the true figure of nature by combining this characteristic electron microscope with various peripheral equipments. In addition to the ultra-high voltage electron microscope, we also possess various electron microscopes and continue to pursue technological innovations to achieve the highest performance for these and their peripheral devices. Our mission at this center is to pursue innovations to advance the science of materials and medical biology and to contribute to the education of scientific human resources through the nanoscience research conducted in this center.

This center conducts cutting-edge research and education in each of the three fields that are “Materials Science,” “Bioscience,” and “Electron Microscope Theory.” In addition, we are proactively engaged in joint research to support researches both inside and outside the university. On the basis of three main projects; "Advanced Research Network for Ultra-Microscopic Sicence" (April 2016-March 2022), "Microstructural Characterization Platform" (April 2012-March 2022), and "Advanced Bioimaging Support " (April 2016-March 2022) that we have conducted so far, we have developed convenient and efficient ways for pursuing science of materials and medical biology accompanied with research collaboration, while expanding the range that the center can support. Regarding individual measurements, each staff of the center proposes the optimum measuring instrument selection and measurement conditions through sufficient hearings, making it possible for observation and measurement with best quality.

With full use of the center's unique facilities, we will continue to play a role as an international core center in leading research in the natural sciences and in developing excellent researchers and students based on the advanced technology.