
TEM Specimen Preparation

PIPS II System
Precision ion polishing system for precise centering, control, and reproducibility of your milling process.
Advantages:
- X,Y stage permits alignment of argon beams to region of interest on the sample
- Improved collimated beam provides useable voltages as low as 100 volts for rapid and damage free preparation of FIB lamella
- Digital optical imaging with image storage and analysis in DigitalMicrograph® software
- 10" color touch screen for display and control of all PIPS™ II parameters

PIPS II System
Fast and reliable mechanical method of pre-thinning to near electron transparency to greatly reduce your ion milling times and uneven thinning.
Advantages:
- Large transparent areas: Utilizes both the large wheel and flat wheel to preserve a large transparent area after processing
- Stronger specimens: Leaves a thick supporting rim to protect and strengthen the specimen after dimpling
- Direct preparation of TEM specimens: Produces a final thickness of <3 μm in dimpled specimens
- Accurate depth and thickness control: User-defined stop point and real-time display ensure you can produce the appropriate dimple depth and thickness
- Micro-positioning: Provides both orthogonal and intersect axes for more accurate positioning

Disc Punch System
Preferred method for cutting transmission electron microscope (TEM) discs from metals, alloys, and all ductile materials.
Advantages:
- Unique piston-rim design prevents overall compression and the cutting forces from extending into center region of specimen
- Exact fit of cutting and support pistons guarantees a sharp cut edge and easy removal of the punched disc
- Strong metal base ensures rigid and long term use without loss of precision
- Easy to see and remove punched area/disc simplifies collection and allows fast, single motion multiple punching

Disc Grinder System
Pre-thin and polish your samples to reduce ion milling times and improve quality.
Advantages:
- Lightweight grinder reduces maximum polishing pressure and specimen damage
- Achieve excellent control of specimen thickness with ultra-fine thread and pre-loading of the specimen drive screw
- Ensure uniformly thin specimens (5 µm accuracy) using large diameter polishing face with precise fit of the specimen mount

Ultrasonic Cutter
Cut your brittle materials beyond the 3 mm transmission electron microscope (TEM) disc to accurately cut holes or unique shapes.
Advantages:
- Quickly cut simple holes, unique shapes, or TEM discs from hard, brittle materials such as semiconductors, ceramics, and geological materials
- Cut materials ranging in thickness from <40 µm to 5 mm utilizing a piezo-electric crystal driving a tubular cutting tool in a fine grain, boron carbide slurry
- Minimize mechanical and thermal damage using manually tuned frequency driver to optimize cutting speed
- Reduce edge chipping and sample damage with spring-loaded platform and magnetically held table to prevent lateral movement
- Precisely center your site specific area with integrated stereo microscope and X,Y table

Solarus Advanced Plasma Cleaning System
Advanced plasma cleaning system for removal of hydrocarbon contamination on TEM and SEM samples.
Solarus is a new generation plasma system engineered on new concepts and the latest technology resulting in better performance, simplified use, and consistent cleaning results. It is radically different from any plasma system available in the market and offers the most effective cleaning for removal of hydrocarbon contamination on transmission electron microscope (TEM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) samples.
Advantages:
- Exclusive H2/O2 gas chemistry (patent pending)—this unique chemistry provides superior cleaning with less sputter damage of all samples including holey carbon films, and further enables samples to remain significantly cooler than if cleaned with the traditional Ar/O2 gas recipe
- Interactive touch screen interface offers seven pre-programmed recipes with optimized process parameters for greater consistency and repeatability
- Real time RF auto-match and variable RF power supply (10 – 65 W) ensure optimum plasma power and low loss under any cleaning conditions
- Mass flow controllers (MFC) provide accurate gas control for long term plasma stability and support up to three independent process gases H2, O2 and Ar
- Multi-functional chamber accepts two TEM holders through front ports while multiple SEM samples are loaded through the top opening lid
- Full time turbo drag pumping system enables overall faster cycle times—faster pump down (50 s vs. the competition's 3 min); faster venting (5 s vs. the competition's 6 min)
- Multi-language support includes operational instructions in English, German, French, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese
Do you want to know more about TEM Specimen Preparation?
Please complete the form with your question/s and we will get back to you.