Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM)

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is a microscopy technique in which a beam of electrons is transmitted through an ultra-thin specimen, interacting with the specimen as it passes through.

An image is formed by detecting the scattered electrons exiting from the specimen. TEM provides atomic resolution imaging providing the capability to reveal atom columns and microstructures of materials in sub-nanoscale. The system is also equiped with an Oxford Instruments Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) detector to provide information on the chemical composition of specific features. A combination of imaging, selected area diffraction analysis and chemical analysis using EDS allows detailed characterisation to be carried.

A JEOL 2100 TEM is available within AMF and this system is also equipped with an Oxford Instruments Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) detector.

The key features of the TEM are:

• Resolution: Point 0.25nm, Lattice 0.14nm, STEM 1.0nm
• Specimen Tilt: +/- 42°
• Gatan 2k x 2k digital camera

Instrument modes include:

• TEM
• Selected Area Diffraction
• Convergent Beam Diffraction
• STEM Bright Field
• STEM Dark Field
• EDS Probe
• X - Ray Mapping (Oxford Instruments)

Samples are typically fits on a 3mm diameter copper grid and is less than 100 nm thick.