Sample Preparation
Included below are a few details about our sample preparation equipment, along with its room location in the CIPS building in parentheses.
General use
Thermo Scientific 2052 series precision compact incubators, 5-60 degrees C range.
Microfuge for low-speed applications.
Biological LM and TEM
The Leica UC7RT ultramicrotome is available for ultrathin tissue sectioning. Diamond knives for the ultramicrotome are also available for experienced users during business hours.
The Leica UC7 RT produces high quality and reproducible thin sections for biological and material sciences. Easy to use with 4 channels to store sectioning settings.
Golgi apparatus, image taken on the JEOL 1400 Flash TEM at the Center for Advanced Microscopy
State-of-the-art ultramicrotome with automated alignment for producing extremely high quality TEM specimens.
Available for preparation of glass knives for sectioning.
Leica CM 1850 cryostat for fresh tissue sectioning.
SEM
Fullham carbon string evaporator EFFA MkII applies a relatively thick coat of carbon for SEM imaging.
The Leica EM CPD300 critical point dryer is use for drying delicate samples for SEM applications. It preserves the surface structure of a specimen which could otherwise be damaged due to surface tension when changing from the liquid to gaseous state. The Leica EM CPD300 critical point dryer dries biological specimens such as pollen, tissue, plants, insects, as well as industrial samples, like Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) or Micro fluids and gels in a fully automated and controlled process (link).
The EMS 750 is capable of freeze-drying small flash-frozen samples, as one method of preserving morphology of hydrated samples to be imaged in the vacuum of SEM.
The EMscope SC500 is used for routine gold coating of samples for SEM analysis.
The Tennant20 is an automated PE-CVD system for the production of ultra-thin coatings for SEM, EDX, EBSD, AES and XPS analyses. The rotation-pumped, closed system produces isotropic osmium layers with very small grain sizes and high conductivity.
The EMS 150T S (Pt/IR) can apply a very thin coating of Pt or Ir on samples for high-resolution SEM imaging. Currently it is configured for
Physical sciences LM and TEM
The Model 650 Low Speed Diamond Wheel Saw is a compact, multipurpose, precision saw
designed to cut a wide variety of materials with minimal subsurface damage. It's low
speed makes it possible to cut fragile materials that would otherwise fracture and
soft materials that
would load the diamond wheel on a higher speed saw. A variety of sample holders provides
a means for mounting any shape sample while goniometer adaptability simplifies cutting
oriented crystals.
Dual Ar-gun ion mill for final TEM thinning.
Used for cutting 3 mm disks for TEM sample preparation from hard or brittle materials.
Currently not in use, but could be resuscitated for thinning conductive TEM specimens.
Grinds a dimple-shaped thin area prior to ion milling.