Sample Preparation for Materials Science

If you require high quality surfacing, use the EM TIC 3X ion beam milling machine after mechanical cutting and polishing. Thanks to the pre-processing, you save significant time for final preparation with the ion beam. Position the wedge mask very close to the target area and use the ion beam milling process mainly to get rid of any residual artefacts from the mechanical preparation steps.

The EM TIC 3X milling machine allows the production of cross sections and plane surfaces for Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Microstructure Analysis (EDS, WDS, Auger, EBSD), AFM, and Incident Light Microscopy investigation.

Low or non-conductive sample materials, like ceramic or polymers, require carbon or metal coating for SEM and TEM imaging methods. A versatile carbon coater, like the EM ACE600 from Leica, provides ultrathin carbon support films for atomic resolution imaging. A conductive coating of uniform thickness prevents the accumulation of charge on the sample and provides adequate strength to withstand electron bombardment. The EM ACE600 high vacuum coater can be configured for: Sputtering, Carbon thread evaporation, Carbon rod evaporation, E-beam Evaporation, and Glow discharge.

Further reading

Brief Introduction to Coating Technology for Electron Microscopy

Ways to Reveal More from your Samples: Ultra-Thin Carbon Films - Application Note for Leica EM ACE600 - Material Research