Facilities at the Electron Microscopy Laboratory

FEI Tecnai F30 Analytical TEM/STEM
JEOL 3000F Field-Emission Gun High-Resolution TEM
Philips CM-30 Analytical Electron Microscope
JEOL 6300 FX Field-Emission Gun SEM
Philips XL30 F Orientation Imaging Microscopy System
Specimen Preparation Facility

SEM = scanning electron microscope
TEM = transmission electron microscope
STEM = scanning transmission electron microscope

FEI Tecnai F30 Analytical TEM/STEM
This is a very flexible TEM/STEM equipped with an energy-dispersive x-ray spectrometer and an electron energy-loss Gatan Imaging Filter. Images can be recorded using two different CCD cameras or film in TEM. This microscope is used primarily for studying the structure and chemistry of materials at high spatial-resolution.

·         Field-emission electron source.

·         Operation at accelerating voltages of up to 300 kV.

·         Point to point resolution of 0.21 nm. 0.14 nm. resolution can be extracted by computer processing.

·         0.34 nm. electron probe in STEM mode.

·         Gatan Ultrascan 4000 4k x 4k CCD camera.

·         High angle dark field STEM Z-contrast imaging.

·         Gatan Imaging Filter with 2k x 2k CCD for electron energy loss spectrometry, energy-filtered imaging and STEM spectrum imaging.

·         Energy-dispersive x-ray microanalysis using EDAX detector and embedded software. Spectra, line scans, maps, and spectrum images can be collected and analyzed.

·         TSL/EDAX Automated Crystallography for the TEM (ACT) and Tools for Orientation and Crystallographic Analysis (TOCA).

JEOL 3000F High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope
This is a high-resolution TEM equipped with an electron energy-loss spectrometer and a CCD camera for digital image acquisition. This microscope is used primarily for imaging the atomic structure of defects and interfaces in materials.

·         Field-emission electron source. Coherent source with an energy spread of 0.8 eV.

·         Operation at accelerating voltages of up to 300 kV.

·         +/- 10° of eucentric specimen tilt.

·         Point to point resolution of 0.17 nm. 0.10 nm. resolution can be extracted by computer processing.

·         Gatan Multiscan CCD Camera for digital image acquisition.

·         Automated microscope alignment: defocus calibration/adjustment, astigmatism correction and beam-tilt correction (automatic coma-free alignment).

·         Gatan Digi-PEELS System for elemental microanalysis.

Philips CM-30 Analytical Electron Microscope
This is a general purpose TEM/STEM equipped for x-ray microanalysis, electron diffraction and conventional imaging.

·         High-brightness LaB6 filament.

·         +/- 45° of specimen tilt.

·         Energy-dispersive x-ray analysis. PGT Avalon 4000 System.

·         Point to point resolution of 0.23 nm.

JEOL 6300FXV High-Resolution SEM
This is a general purpose SEM equipped for x-ray microanalysis and imaging.

·         Small, high-brightness field-emission electron source provides 1.5 nm. resolution at 30 kV.

·         Capable of operating from 1-30 kV.

·         Large specimen chamber with airlock for rapid sample insertion.

·         PGT Energy-dispersive x-ray spectrometer, both point analysis and mapping.

·         Imaging with both secondary and backscattered electrons.

·         Digital image acquisition.

Philips XL-30 F Orientation Imaging Microscopy System
This is a dedicated system equipped for orientation imaging using backscattered electron patterns.

·         Small, stable, high-brightness Schottky-based field-emission electron source provides 1 nm. resolution at 30 kV.

·         Capable of operating from 1-30 kV.

·         Large specimen chamber.

·         Digital image acquisition.

·         TSL/EDAX orientation imaging CCD camera system for collecting and analyzing BSE patterns to determine sample phases, orientation distributions, textures, twins and grain boundaries, grain size distributions, etc.

Specimen Preparation Facility
This part of the facility contains equipment for TEM and SEM sample preparation, including the following.

Mechanical Thinning of Materials

·         Buehler Isomet and South Bay Technology Model 660 Low Speed Diamond Saws for cutting hard materials.

·         Gatan Model 601 Ultrasonic disc cutter and South Bay Technology Model 360 Abrasive Slurry disc cutter cut 3 mm diameter discs from bulk material. Other diameters and cross-sections can be cut with special tooling

·         Gatan, tripod and other polishers are utilized for grinding and polishing TEM specimens. SiC paper and/or diamond lapping films of successively finer grade typically are utilized to mechanically thin specimens to thicknesses of about 100 microns down to just a few microns.

·         VCR Model D500 and Gatan Model 656 Dimplers are utilized to mechanically thin specimen centers to less than 10 microns. A dimpler is a precision tool that creates a dimple or small depression in a specimen. The specimens will generally need to be thinned further with ion beam techniques as described below.

Ion-Beam Thinning of Materials

·         Gatan Duomill Model 690 is a conventional Argon ion miller capable of operating at liquid Nitrogen temperatures to minimize ion beam heating and damage of the specimen.

·         Gatan Precision Ion Polishing System (PIPS) Model 691 is utilized for ion thinning samples at low incident angles. Low-angle milling can reduce the preferential removal of soft materials adjacent to harder materials. Additionally, PIPS units allow for sector milling for the preparation of cross-section specimens.