Cryo SEM

EMLab houses a FEI Quanta  FEG 600 Scanning Electron Microscope which is equipped with a Quorum PP2000T Cryo Stage.  

 

 

This microscope has the capability of imaging specimens which have been cooled to temperatures as low as -183°C. Cryo-SEM, as the technique is called, is of great value in studying samples which would otherwise be impossible to image in the SEM, such as samples which are liquid at room temperature.

 

Samples can be frozen in liquid nitrogen slush to achieve a high cooling rate and then transferred in to the SEM and held at a low temperature. Facilities are available to fracture the sample after cooling and to coat the sample to facilitate high resolution imaging.