FEI Quanta 200 Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope (ESEM) with ThermoNoran Vantage Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDAX) Detector

The FEI Quanta 200 environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) permits polymer characterization with minimal sample preparation time. Traditional scanning electron microscopes (SEM) require that samples analyzed be conductive in order to obtain images due to the principles of operation of the SEM vacuum system. Since polymers are for the most part non-conductive, laborious efforts are required to make the sample conductive–most often by sputter coating with gold. This process is both time consuming and costly. However, the vacuum system on an ESEM differs from a traditional SEM in that it allows for water vapor to be introduced into the chamber aiding in acquisition of images of non-conductive materials such as polymeric and biological samples.

When a sample is impacted with an electron beam, x-rays are generated and scattered about the ESEM chamber. An energy dispersive X-ray detector (EDAX) allows for collection of the x-rays. Each element has a characteristic peak or set of peaks determined by its electron structure. The EDAX software permits identification and quantification of the elements present in the sample allowing for characterization of known materials and identification of unknown samples.

FEI Quanta 200/ThermoNoran Vantage Instrument Highlights

• Three operational modes:

o High-vacuum (SEM)
o Low-vacuum SEM (LV-SEM) (0-1.0 Torr)
o Environmental SEM (ESEM) (0-20.0 Torr)

• Magnification range 25X–1,000,000X
• Instrument cost: ~ $300,000 including EDAX detector

ESEM/X-ray analysis of coating surface @ 200x

This work was supported primarily (or partially) by the Division of Materials Research program of the National Science Foundation under Award No. DMR 0215873.

JEOL 2100 Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) with Gatan ES500w CCD Digital Camera and r-TEM Retractable (EDAX) X-ray Detector

The School of Polymers and High Performance Materials has a JEOL 2100 transmission electron microscope (TEM) that permits characterization of samples with very high magnification (up to 1.5 million) and lattice resolution of 0.14 nm. The TEM is equipped with a Gatan ES500w digital camera and EDAX x-ray detector. The ES500w digital camera consists of 1350 x 1040 pixel 20 MHz interline CCD with high resolution phosphor scintillator prism for up to 200 keV. This camera permits fast view (near TV-speed) for rapid specimen search, digital streaming video (DSV) for viewing or recording of digital movies of in-situ experiments, and auto-exposure for automatic optimization of image quality. It is equipped with ready-to-print capability with user-defined image print template. The energy dispersive X-ray detector (EDAX) option collects X-rays generated by electron beams impacting a sample to identify and quantify the constituent elements. The TEM-2100 is also equipped with single and dual tilt for three-dimensional imaging, and a cryogenic specimen holder to preserve heat-sensitive samples while being bombarded by the electron beam.

This work was supported primarily (or partially) by the Major Research Instrumentation program of the National Science Foundation under Award No. MRI 0421406.

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