Imaging and Histology Core Facility
The IHCF occupies 1344 sq ft on the first floor of the Wettaw Biology/Biochemistry Building (#88), and
was constructed in 2000. This building is adjacent to the buildings that house the Departments of
Chemistry & Biochemistry, Biological Sciences, Environmental Sciences, and Physics & Astronomy. It
was designed specifically to hold electron microscopes, for example, the EM rooms were built with
specialized vibration isolation pads. It includes office space for the manager, and houses the existing
scanning and transmission electron microscopes (SEM and TEM), specimen prep areas, as well as a
confocal microscope and several light microscopes.
The IHCF operates two electron microscopes: a Zeiss SMT Supra-40 Variable pressure field emissionscanning electron microscope, installed in 2012, which includes a Thermo Fisher Scientific Energy
Dispersive X-Ray (EDX) Spectrometer System and wave-length dispersive spectrometer (WDS) to
provide semi-quantitative and quantitative analytical capabilities including X-ray mapping; and a JEOL
1200 TEM. These instruments serve the entire campus research enterprise as the only open electron
microscopes at NAU. The nearest other EM facility is 180 miles away at Arizona State University. The
IHCF is housed in the Wettaw Building on the NAU main campus. The floor plan of the facility is shown
below (Fig. 1):
The IHCF laboratory also includes a Quantachrome Nova 2000e Surface Area and Pore Size Analyzer, a
Quantachrome Zeta Reader, the McBain QLC100 laser scanning confocal microscope, a 20 cubic foot
laboratory refrigerator with separate freezer; 6 ft. fume hood with water, gas, air, and vacuum and storage
area for corrosives and flammables; pH meters, stir plates, analytical and top-loading balances; specimen
rotator; Canon 9950F scanner (for TEM negatives); utility and vacuum ovens; full film development
darkroom capacity (ARKAY manual developer with nitrogen burst, Fisher Tabletop Dryer); two Reichert
Ultracut E Ultramicrotomes; a Pelco Research Microwave System; LKB 7800 Glass Knifemaker for
ultramicrotomy; a Pelco CPD2 Critical Point Dryer, Denton Desktop II Cold Sputter Coater with carbon rod
attachment; and a Emitech K750 Freeze Dryer.
All SEM pictures and X-ray analysis data generated by the IHCF are stored on a Dell PowerEdge 2150
server maintained by NAU’s College of Engineering, Forestry, and Natural Science (CEFNS) Information
Technology Services and housed in the server room in the Biological Sciences Building (#21), which is
adjacent to the Wettaw Biology/Biochemistry Building.
Figure 1. Layout of the NAU Imaging and Histology Core Facility, Room 103 Wettaw Building
Director:
Diane Stearns, PhD
Phone: 928-523-4460
Email: [email protected]
Assistant Director:
Aubrey Funke, MS
Phone: 928-523-6725
Email: [email protected]
Mailing:
PO Box 5640
Building 88/Room 103
Flagstaff, Arizona 86011
Phone: 928-523-6725
URL: http://www4.nau.edu/electron/