Smarter sample preparation for electron microscopy: practical tools that make the difference

Good imaging, measuring, and analyzing starts with good sample preparation. Whether you’re working with raw materials, biological samples, or industrial components, high-quality sample preparation is essential for meaningful SEM and TEM analysis. From sputter coating to ion milling and cryo-sectioning, the right tools make your workflow more consistent, efficient, and repeatable.

In this overview we bring you a selection of instruments and technologies available from your local sales partner and designed to help you get the most out of your electron microscope —each with clear benefits and a proven role in the lab.

LUXOR metal and carbon coaters

In an electron microscope, samples are placed in a chamber under vacuum and then bombarded with an electron beam. As a result, non- or weakly conducting samples become electrically charged, leading to abnormal contrasts and “overexposed” images.

This effect can be avoided by applying a thin layer of conductive material (usually gold, platinum, or carbon) to the surface of the sample. The most used methods are thermal evaporation for applying a layer of carbon and plasma coating for gold and platinum. Such techniques are commonly referred to as SEM coating.

The LUXOR coater range consists of 3 models:

The LUXOR^Au sputter coater is an advanced, fully automatic gold or gold/palladium sputtering device for use with desktop SEM or floormodel SEM for magnifications up to 50.000x.
The LUXOR^Pt sputter coater is used in combination with high resolution floormodel SEM or FEG-SEM (magnifications from 50.000x upwards) for coating with platinum, gold/palladium or gold.
The LUXOR^C is a fully automatic carbon coater designed for high-precision sample preparation in chemical analysis applications using floor-model, desktop, or high-resolution FE-SEM electron microscopes equipped with EDX/EDS detectors.

Fischione ion mills and plasma cleaners

Fischione ion mills and plasma cleaners are used in more than 500 research laboratories worldwide to solve everyday challenges in electron microscopy and nanotechnology.

Model 1051 ion mill: A state-of-the-art ion mill – and polisher that offers reliable specimens with top performance. This compact, precise ion mill consistently produces high-quality transmission electron microscopy samples with large electron transparent areas for a wide variety of materials.
The Model 1061 SEM Mill and Model 1062 TrionMill are used to create the surface features needed for SEM imaging and analysis. The Model 1061 SEM Mill uses two independently adjustable TrueFocus ion sources, while the TrionMill’s three ion sources enable large-scale milling and polishing of flat and cross-sectional samples. High-energy operation allows rapid milling of large areas (up to 50 mm), while low-energy operation allows gentle polishing of samples.
The 1070 NanoClean plasmacleaner automatically and quickly removes organic contamination (hydrocarbons) for electron microscopy applications. It simultaneously cleans samples, sample holders, and stubs. It is also ideal for surface science techniques.

Thermo Scientific Nebula Particle Dispenser

With the Thermo Scientific™ Nebula™ Particle Dispenser, a standard method for uniform dry powder dispersion on SEM stubs becomes available. The Nebula obtains a mono layer of particles on a stub, avoiding particle clusters while maintaining the structure of fragile particles.

TechnoOrg Linda Ionmills

The main activity of TechnoOrg Linda is developing and manufacturing ion technology-based instruments for extended use in specimen preparation and depth profiling connected to transmission and scanning electron microscopy.

The UniMill is a fully automated ion beam thinning system for TEM/XTEM sample preparation. It is easy to use and fully automated, using the widest energy range on the market (100 eV- 16 keV)
The GentleMill is an ion beam workstation for final cleaning and end-polishing of highest quality TEM/FIB samples
The SEMPrep 2 is a new generation ion milling system for slope cutting and damage-free surface polishing for SEM and EBSD users. It is easy to use and fully automated, using an energy range of 100 eV to 16 keV and unique pre-tilted slop cutting sample holders (30°, 45°, 90°).

RMC Boeckeler Microtomes and Ultramicrotomes

RMC Boeckeler develops sample preparation solutions for nanoscale research. The (cryo) microtomes and (cryo) ultramicrotomes are used globally in the advancement of a broad range of areas including materials science and cell biology, with special emphasis in sample preparation for 3D electron microscopy solutions.

The applications of microtomy are not limited to biological or life science studies. Challenging samples, metals, and ceramics, for example, can be sectioned by RMC Boeckeler’s rotary microtomes with their power-driven cutting stroke, thus allowing for harder specimens and larger block faces to be addressed.

RMC Boeckeler microtomes are modular in design and can be readily configured to prepare thicker sections with a larger surface area for light microscopy, FTIR, and Confocal amongst other applications. For materials that require sectioning at cryo temperatures, a liquid nitrogen cooled cryo-chamber is also available.

The use of TEM, SEM, AFM, SPM and FTIR requires high precision sample preparation tools such as RMC Boeckeler’s PowerTome ultramicrotome. Known for its durability, its power-driven cutting stroke enables to slice through a wide variety of materials ranging from softer to extremely hard materials, allowing it to be used for research in many different industries ranging from life sciences to materials sciences.

The modular nature of the ultramicrotome is designed to allow you to add features that best meet your requirements without investing in features that you don’t need today. Future options including room temperature ultramicrotomy, cryo ultramicrotomy, and array tomography can be added at any moment for future application.

IBSS Plasma Cleaning Technology

IBSS provides SEM, FIB and TEM plasma cleaning solutions. IBSS’s flagship, the GV10x DS Asher, is a new paradigm in situ downstream plasma ashing. Competitively priced, the GV10x Downstream Asher reduces carbon & hydrocarbon contamination 10 to 20 times more effectively than traditional methods at vacuum pressure safe for TMP operation.

Plasma cleaning is the most non-invasive effective way to prepare samples for electron microscopy when outgassing materials are observed. As the plasma cleaning process removes hydrocarbon contamination layers, it can remove other carbon structures at the same time. This can be an issue for TEM applications since the carbon support grids become less robust after each cleaning period. IBSS offers a non-kinetic, gentle mechanism to minimize the side effects of plasma sample interactions. The results show the system effectively removes contamination while preserving the carbon support film for many cleaning runs.

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