Switzerland – Electron microscopes

The two instruments shall warrant a smooth workflow for TEM sample preparation by FIB and state-of-the-art sample characterization by analytical, high-resolution TEM/STEM, particularly, but not exclusively. A broad spectrum of materials science samples shall be addressed, including highly fragile and beam-sensitive samples such as, e.g., Li-based thin-film battery materials, carbon-based nanomaterials or zeolites for catalytic applications. Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analytics is required on both instruments, special acquisition modes in STEM are desirable, namely 4D-STEM in combination with the TEM camera, and a segmented detector for differential phase contrast STEM. Besides TEM sample preparation, the FIB instrument shall be employed for 3D imaging by consecutively ion-beam milling and imaging. To warrant smooth and efficient operation of these multi-user instruments, an important aspect lies on automatic or semi-automatic routines, particularly concerning materials processing by FIB.