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This provisional page includes guidance on the new operating structure from FY2025. Some items remain under consideration and may change; please contact the Division of Analytical Electron Microscopy, IMR if you have questions.
Provisional version: April 5, 2025
These guidelines establish a shared understanding between users and the operator concerning equipment use at the Division of Analytical Electron Microscopy, IMR, for safe and smooth use. They are provisional guidelines based on internal rules and current operating conditions.
1. Scope
These guidelines apply to equipment directly accepted and operated by the Division of Analytical Electron Microscopy, part of the Analytical Research Core for Advanced Materials (ARCAM), Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University. Use through the CINTS (ARIM) framework is governed separately by CINTS and ARIM rules.
2. Conditions of use
- Be a member of Tohoku University.
- Use the equipment for academic purposes with publication of outcomes.
- Operate the equipment yourself (self-use).
- Be able to pay at the internal rate from funds administered by a Tohoku University unit.
Requests not meeting all of these conditions are accepted through the CINTS framework.
3. Application and approval
- Apply in advance through the web application form.
- The division manager reviews the application; the ARCAM Director grants approval.
- Approval requires agreement to the application confirmation items.
4. Licenses (authorization to use equipment)
- A license is required for each instrument.
- Licensing requires equipment training or paid individual training and a practical assessment.
- Licensing confirms safe operation without damage; the quality of results depends on the license holder’s own skills.
5. Technical support
- In principle, we accept self-use only; we do not provide operation or analysis services.
- Pre-use technical consultation and limited procedural assistance may be available.
- For detailed support, consider applying through the CINTS framework via the ARIM Project Unit.
6. Cancellation
- Cancel through the reservation system by the previous day.
- Same-day cancellations are normally charged for the reserved time.
- If we cancel for our own reasons, no fee is charged, but an alternative date is not guaranteed.
7. Responsibility and disclaimer
- We are not responsible for the reliability, reproducibility, or interpretation of measurement results.
- Users are responsible for planning and conducting measurements and assessing results.
- If an experiment is interrupted by equipment malfunction, fee reductions may be decided at our discretion.
8. Reporting outcomes and acknowledgements
- State the instrument name or use of this division in papers, presentations, theses, and other outcomes.
- Report the venue, title, date, and author information when an outcome is presented.
- The first presentation must be reported; please cooperate with outcome reporting for approximately five years thereafter.
9. Restrictions and rejection of applications
- Use unsuitable for the equipment specification.
- Cases expected to significantly affect equipment condition or other users.
- Insufficient information for assessment.
- Uses not accepted in the analysis-facility framework, including commercial or supported use.
- Possible excess of the sharing-rate limit for ARIM equipment.
10. Samples and materials
Users are responsible for samples and materials brought into the division. We do not store or return samples; uncollected items may be discarded after a certain period.
11. Fees
Equipment use incurs equipment-use fees and, where necessary, technical support fees and experimental consumable costs. For the analysis-facility framework, payment must use funds administered within Tohoku University; payment through an external institution is not accepted. External research funding is acceptable where it is properly administered internally.
- Equipment-use fees cover running costs and ordinary consumables such as filaments, carbon tape, and liquid nitrogen; internal rates exclude depreciation under Tohoku University standards.
- Experimental consumables are charged at cost when special items not included in ordinary use are supplied.
- Technical support fees apply to staff assistance, but are currently suspended for the analysis-facility framework.
Fees are aggregated at month-end and billed the following month; transfer timing and method may vary by funding source and unit. Ensure the nominated fund remains usable when billing occurs. We will confirm fund availability with the accounting unit; provide its manager and contact information in the application. Changing the payment fund requires a new usage application.
Charges are incurred for reserved machine time. Same-day cancellation, interruption, or shortened work due to sample condition is normally charged according to the reserved time.
See the internal agreement on applications and fees, the AEM fee schedule, and the CINTS fee schedule.
12. Other matters
These guidelines may be reviewed and changed in response to operational constraints such as staffing and budget. They state the operating policy of the Division of Analytical Electron Microscopy, IMR to ensure transparency and fairness in equipment use.
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