Three days of hands-on training for technicians, researchers, and students who want to apply a faster and cleaner preparation method that provides samples with uniform thickness, no embedded contamination, and is cheaper than a FIB.
Details
Contact Us to Schedule
Format
Lecture, demonstration and hands-on practice, as well as round table discussion. Participants my bring their own samples to work on during lab time.
Main Curriculum
- Sample discussion/evaluation to determine method of support
- Embedment in Epofix or Cyanoacrylate glue, if necessary
- Trimming using razor blades, diamond trim blades, or the TXP for precision trimming
- Sectioning of brittle materials and brittle water sensitive materials at room temperature
- Sectioning of polymers at room temperature using an ultra sonic knife
- Cryo trimming and sectioning ofsofter polymers
- OsO4 and RuO4 staining of sectioned polymers
Instruments Available
- Leica EM UC7 RT & Cryo
- RMC Boeckeler Power Tome PC RT & Cryo
- Diatome Ultrasonic Diamond Knife
- Diatome 45°, 35° RT/Cryo Diamond Knives
Enrollment Note
Registration will be limited to a maximum of 15 participants.
EMS will provide samples to those who prefer not to bring their own.
Materials Ultramicrotomy
Introduce individuals to the unique application of ultramicrotomy to materials, which provides several advantages over other common techniques such as ion milling, FIB, and tripod polishing for TEM analysis. The thin (≤ 30 nm) sectioning of metals, embedded powders, and polymers is a technique that provides samples with a uniform thickness, retention of elemental distribution, lack of ion implantation contamination, and proves to be much faster than other preparation methods such as ion milling, tripod polishing and FIB milling.