Electron Microscopy

TEM

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is a high-resolution imaging technique in which a beam of electrons passes through a thin sample to produce an image. The electron beam is impacted by the sample’s thickness/density, composition, and in some cases, crystallinity. The electrons that are transmitted through the specimen subsequently provide contrast in the resulting image.

Cutting-edge products and technology for cryo-TEM often gives the best results for life science samples including single particle analysis. The TEM lineup for life science can be browsed here and includes the Krios and Tundra TEM systems as well as the latest Selectris energy filter and Falcon 4i high sensitivity direct electron detector.

TEM solutions for Materials Science include the Talos F200i and F200X systems and the aberration-corrected Spectra series for ultimate imaging resolution, both operated using the fully integrated Velox user interface. New technology includes the ultimate low dose STEM imaging technique iDPC, constant power lens technology to reduce alignment time, high throughput automated TEM particle analysis with APW, and a very large 4.0 srad solid angle EDS detector with fast voltage switching capability on the Spectra Ultra.

Fully automated imaging and metrology is available on Metrios AX for semiconductor. Convenient, high quality TEM sample preparation from a range of materials is available with the DualBeam product line.

SEM and Desktop SEM

Since the introduction of electron microscopes in the 1930s, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has developed into a critical tool within numerous different research fields, spanning everything from materials science to forensics, to industrial manufacturing, and even to the life sciences. As soon as microscopic information about the surface or near-surface region of a specimen is needed, SEM becomes a necessary tool. For that reason, the method finds applications in nearly every branch of science, technology and industry.

Floor model SEMs offer the flexibility and versatility to meet a wide range of academic and industrial needs: support for large and heavy samples, a wide range of options, excellent imaging of challenging materials, and dynamic experimentation. Thermo Fisher offers a full range of SEM systems and technology, including the latest ChemiSEM technology combining SEM imaging and EDS elemental mapping, easy to use tungsten SEM systems (Axia and Prisma), and FE-SEM tools for a range of budgets and application requirements, such as the Apreo 2 SEM with compound lens technology, advanced detectors for high contrast SE and BSE imaging, sensitive low dose detection and effective charge-reduction, as well as the ultimate imaging resolution with the Verios 5 XHR SEM. A wide and flexible range of options for convenient in-situ experimentation, heating, cooling, EDS, EBSD, low vacuum and environmental SEM and large area navigation and tile-set acquisition with MAPS are also available.

Desktop SEM instruments boast enhanced ease of use, democratizing SEM technology. While traditional “floor model” SEM instrumentation can require a specialized room or facility, desktop instrumentation is far more robust. Some have even taken their desktop SEMs on the road, providing on-site electron microscopy analysis via mobile laboratories. The Phenom desktop SEM range gives remarkable image quality, ease of use and short time to data, with a variety of automated options for analyzing particles, fibers and precipitates. Now with a choice of the popular CeB₆ high brightness electron source or the world’s first desktop FEG SEM, Phenom Pharos.

DualBeam (FIB-SEM)

FIB-SEM or DualBeam instruments are being used more and more in materials science research, combining precise FIB material removal with high-resolution SEM imaging. Thermo Fisher Scientific is the industry leader in FIB-SEM technology with more than 30 years of experience.  With more than 2,000 Thermo Scientific systems installed around the world, our DualBeams continue to lead the market with cutting-edge capabilities built on technical innovation and a deep store of application knowledge gathered over years of collaborative development with our customers. Key applications for DualBeam are surface and cross-sectional imaging, 3D data acquisition using Auto Slice & View, and site-specific high quality sample preparation for TEM and atom probe tomography, as well as nano-prototyping. TEM sample preparation can be fully automated with the latest AutoTEM 5 software. Our main gallium-source FIB tools are the Scios 2 and Helios 5 series. In addition, Plasma FIB tools (Helios PFIB, Hydra) provide much faster sample removal and gallium-free sample preparation and are increasingly used for materials science, semiconductor and life science applications. A fully coincident femtosecond laser PFIB TriBeam system is also now available. High throughput processing of full wafers is also available with the ExSolve and Helios 5 EXL.

XPS (Surface analysis)

As the demand for high-performance materials increases, so does the importance of surface engineering. The material’s surface is its point of interaction with the external environment and other materials, and will influence factors such as corrosion rates, catalytic activity, adhesive properties, wettability, contact potential, and failure mechanisms. Surface analysis is used to understand surface chemistry and investigate the efficacy of surface engineering, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is one of the standard tools for surface characterization. XPS can measure elemental composition as well as the chemical and electronic state of the atoms within a material. Web resources include an introduction to XPS technology and surface analysis techniques, a comprehensive XPS learning center, and detailed information and results from most elements in the periodic table here.

The Thermo Scientific XPS instrument lineup consists of the highly automated K-Alpha and Nexsa G2 systems and the more flexible Escalab QXi. All our XPS systems use the same powerful and convenient Avantage software user interface.