Quiet Wing

In 2012, the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory opened a 10,000-square-foot Quiet Wing to house a suite of highly sensitive microscopes. The facility was designed and constructed to minimize sound, vibrations, and other disturbances to these instruments. 

The Quiet Wing includes eight stand-alone bays that each sit atop a three-foot-thick concrete pad. This physical separation mitigates structural vibrations between bays, and sound-absorbing materials help to reduce acoustic noise. The facility has a smooth airflow distribution system to minimize air movement and provide uniform temperatures. The electrical room is shielded with aluminum panels to reduce external electromagnetic field effects. 

Inside the Quiet Wing are several electron microscopes used to investigate molecular-level processes that drive biological and environmental systems. Our cryogenic electron microscopes are used to study the structure of proteins and protein complexes at the atomic scale to understand their function, to identify the three-dimensional distribution of cellular components within whole cells, and to examine plant–microbe–fungi interactions. 

Other transmission electron microscopes in the Quiet Wing enable the study of environmental interactions in soil and minerals with applications to critical minerals and materials recovery. When combined with machine learning and computational models, results from the Quiet Wing contribute to developing new bioproducts and materials, energy sources, agriculture, and more.