EM Support Instruments

The Beckman Optima™ Ultracentrifuge is a preparative ultracentrifuge that can be used to quickly separate particles according to their densities.

It is a very simple cleaning technique used in air at ambient temperatures.  The tool can accommodate a full size silicon wafer which can be placed close to the UV source to remove unwanted organic contamination.  It is operated in a fume hood due to ozone production and with the door closed due to the UV light.  There is one power switch which can be turned on as long as the user needs for sample cleaning but must be manually turned off when finished.

A single-tilt holder for cryo transfer and tomography of thin-film frozen-hydrated/vitrified specimens. For transmission electron microscopes (TEMs) with a wider gap pole piece (an approx. 5 mm gap for tomographic studies)

Room-temperature and cryo-sectioning of biological and industrial specimens

The Model 685.O precision etching coating system (PECS™) II is a table top broad beam argon milling tool for polishing as well as coating samples.

The Polaron Carbon String Coater use carbon rod and carbon string as the evaporation source respectively.

The FEI Vitrobot (Vitrification Robot) Mark III (Type FP 5350/61) is a fully PC-controlled cryo-plunger for vitrification (= rapid cooling) of aqueous samples used later in cryo-electron microscopy (typically in JEOL JEM-2100 TEM).

The Hysitron (now Bruker) PI 95 In-Situ TEM Picoindenter is for quantitative, direct-observation, nanomechanical testing inside TEM.

Buehler MetaServ 250 (2 identical pieces), Room MRL B56

It is fast and reliable mechanical method of pre-thinning TEM sample to near electron transparency to greatly reduce ion milling times and uneven thinning. Advantages includes: Large transparent areas; stronger specimen with a thick supporting rim to protect and strengthen the specimen after dimpling; accurate depth and thickness control.

The Well Precision Diamond Wire Saw is used for precise cutting of small samples. It uses a stainless steel wire with diamonds embedded into the surface of the wire as the “cutting tool”. The wire is wound onto a drum which mounts onto a precision reciprocating motor. The wire diameters range from 0.06mm (0.002 in.) to 0.70mm (.028 in.).

The TechCut 4™ is a precision low speed saw excellent for cutting smaller, delicate samples. The pivoting cutting arm has adjustable weights to apply or counterbalance downward force to the sample during sectioning. Cutting fluid is drawn from the reservoir by the blade to cool the sample. With a 3" to 6" blade range, samples up to 2" thick can be sectioned.

The MRI-150 low-speed diamond saw equips with a digital micrometer and digital speed display controller. It is a tool for cutting/dicing/slicing materials (metals, ceramic, etc) up to an inch thickness. Cutting fluid is drawn from the reservoir by the blade to cool the sample.

Vibratory polishing is an effective final polishing technique that is widely used with metals that are difficult to polish. The vibrations in both vertical and horizontal directions produced by electromagnetic forces induce the sample to move about its axis and around the cloth periphery. The vibration amplitude is adjusted to a level just adequate to produce smooth movement around the bowl. The gentle polishing greatly reduced the surface residual stress and strain.

The MultiPrep™ System enables precise semiautomatic sample preparation of a wide range of materials for microscopic (optical, SEM, TEM, AFM, etc.) evaluation. It can be used for parallel polishing or angled polishing.

The Au-Pd sputter coater is used for producing an even coating on the surface of the specimen. The coating will help inhibit charging, reduce thermal damage, and improve secondary electron emission which are beneficial for Scanning Electron Microscopy.

The Au-Pd sputter coater is used for producing an even coating on the surface of the specimen. The coating will help inhibit charging, reduce thermal damage, and improve secondary electron emission which are beneficial for Scanning Electron Microscopy.

The Cressington 108 carbon coaters use carbon rod as the evaporation source. It is generally used for coating SEM or TEM samples where metal coatings need to be avoided. It offers the choice of either manual or automatic evaporation. In manual mode the evaporation source can be operated in "pulse" or "continuous" modes.

The Fischione 1020 plasma cleaner can be used for gently removed organic contamination from both TEM and SEM samples and specimen holders by using Argon-oxygen high frequency plasma. The plasma cleaner has an automated timer control and accepts TEM specimen holders and SEM holders.

The Princeton WS-25 Precision Wire Saw can perform cuts using a  diamond dotted wire as well as with free abrasive method by using thin tungsten wire moistened with an oil or glycerin-suspended abrasive slurry.

The Tergeo-EM plasma cleaner can be used to remove hydrocarbon contaminations on TEM and SEM samples.

Gatan Cryo-PIPS has additional capabilities in addition to the features of the Gatan PIPS

The Gatan 691 Precision Ion Polishing System (PIPSTM) is a user-friendly precision Argon ion beam polisher designed to produce high quality, TEM specimens with minimal effort.