Category
- Microscopy and Imaging » Electron Microscopy
Booking Details
Facility Management Team and Location
Facility Features, Working Principle and Specifications
The JSM-7600F The Field Emission Gun (FEG) Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) was installed at the IIT Bombay in October 2012. The FEG-SEM will be used to obtain high resolution images of materials, cells, and tissues at the micron, sub-micron, and nanometer scale, taking advantage of the high resolution of SEM's with FEG electron sources. The FEG-SEM will also be integrated with a serial sectioning device to achieve sequential SEM images of materials following serial sectioning. The combination of devices will allow 3-dimensional analysis of tissue specimens with low-nanometer resolution in the X-Y plane and Z-plane resolution depending on the serial sectioning device.
The Cryo unit (PP3000T) by Quorum is a highly automated, easy to use, column-mounted, gas-cooled cryo preparation system. The PP3000T has all the facilities needed to rapidly freeze and transfer specimens. The cryo preparation chamber is turbomolecular pumped and includes tools for cold fracturing, controlled sublimation and specimen coating. The specimen can then be transferred onto a highly stable SEM cold stage for observation. Cold trapping in the cryo preparation chamber and SEM chamber ensures the whole process is frost-free.
FEG-SEM (JSM-7600F) :
Ultrahigh resolution comparable to the cold cathode FE-SEM.
In-Lens Thermal FEG.
Aperture angle control lens automatically optimizes the spot size at both high and low currents for both analysis and imaging.
Built-in r-filter enabling user selectable mixture of secondary electron and backscattered electron images.
Gentle Beam mode for top-surface imaging, reduced beam damage and charge suppression.
Eco design for energy conservation.
Cryo Preparation System (PP3000T) :
Column mounted preparation chamber †essential for frostâ€free transfer and ease of use
Cold stage temperature down to 190oC, plus comprehensive cold trapping
Unsurpassed specimen visibility †large front window, top viewing ports, multiple LED chamber lighting
Cameras in the preparation chamber and SEM †cumbersome binocular not needed
Independent gasâ€cooling of the SEM cold stage and cold trap †temperature range down to â€192oC (not possible with conduction cooling)
Pumped storage of cryo preparation device †ensures transfer rod is maintained in a vacuum compatible condition when not in use
Instructions for Registration, Sample Preparation, User Instructions, Precautionary Measures and Charges
Only online registration through the IRCC webpage will be accepted
If the appointment is given but the user cannot come, a mail should be immediately sent to cryofegsem@iitb.ac.in to cancel his/her slot.
Bring a new blank CD for copying the images. The USB drives are not allowed due to computer virus problems.
If possible, please bring one prior Cryo-SEM micrograph of similar sample while coming for analysis.
Magnetic samples can seriously damage the instrument. As per the manufacturer's instruction magnetic samples are not allowed.
The sample thickness should be less than 3 mm.
Any query related to the Cryo-FEG-SEM analysis should be emailed to cryofegsem@iitb.ac.in
At present this facility is available only to the internal IITB users
Applications
Nanotechnology, Biology and Life Sciences, Material Science, Pharmaceutical Analysis, Semiconductors.
The main advantages of using a Cryo-SEM over a normal SEM are listed below:
Specimen viewed in its fully hydrated state
Soluble materials are retained
Little or no mechanical damage to the specime
Ideal for time resolved experiments (biological and industrial)
High resolution capability (compared to low-vacuum techniques)
Extra information obtained by low-temperature fracturing
Excellent for liquids, semi-liquids and beam sensitive specimens
Rapid process – typically 5-10 minutes
Food science, Biological science, Material science