Instrumentation
As part of its recently renewed contract with EPSRC, the SuperSTEM Laboratory is in the process of planning a significant infrastructure investment to develop its on-site sample preparation and materials nanofabrication expertise, with the aim to provide ultra-thin, damage-free specimens optimised for atomic-resolution STEM imaging and analysis.
Microscopes
SuperSTEM 3
Nion UltraSTEMTM 100MC 'HERMES'
Newly-developed C5 Nion QO corrector, with direct correction up to C5,6 for high spatial resolution (< 0.7 Å at 100 kV)
40-100 kV cold FEG emitter with 0.3 eV native energy spread
High-energy-resolution monochromator for ultimate 5 meV energy resolution
Flexible post-specimen optics for large EELS collection angles and flexible imaging detector setup (BF/ABF/ADF)
Ultrastable x, y, z sample stage with multi-holder in-vacuum magazine for convenient loading and electrical contacting capabilities for custom in situ experiment design
Nion IRIS high energy resolution EELS spectrometer with Dectris ELA direct electron detector
SuperSTEM 2
Nion UltraSTEMTM 100
C5 Nion QO corrector, with high spatial resolution (< 0.8 Å at 100 kV)
40-100 kV cold FEG emitter with 0.3 eV native energy spread
Flexible post-specimen optics for large EELS collection angles and flexible imaging detector setup
Ultrastable x, y, z sample stage with multi-holder in-vacuum magazine for convenient loading and electrical contacting capabilities for custom in situ experiment design
±35 ° tilt angle in 2 directions
UHV Enfina EEL spectrometer
Bruker XFlash 6T-100 SSD large collection angle EDX detector
SuperSTEM 4
Hitachi Ultra-High Resolution FE-SEM/STEM SU9000II
1-30 kV cold FEG emitter with 0.3 eV native energy spread
EELS spectrometer and diffraction camera for 3kV-30kV EELS
BF/ segmented HAADF STEM detectors and SE, LA-BSE, HA-BSE SEM detectors
STEM resolution of 0.2nm and SE resolution of 0.4 nm at 30 kV
Oxford Instruments Ultim® Extreme Silicon Drift Detector EDS Detector
Heating & Biasing holder & compatible with Hitachi In-situ side entry holders
SuperSTEM 1
VG HB501 with MarkII Nion Cs corrector
C3 Nion QO corrector for sub-1.0 Å probes with 80 pA current
40-100 kV cold FEG emitter with 0.3 eV native energy spread
BF/MAADF/HAADF detectors: 0-6/35-100/70-210 mrad collection angles
UHF Enfina spectrometer with multipole coupling up to 19 mrad EELS collection
Ex-situ gas reaction cell
Nanofabrication & Sample Preparation
Focused ion beam
Hitachi Ethos NX5000
Triple beam system with electron, 30 kV Ga ion and low-kV Ar ion 'polisher' beam
SE / BSE / STEM / EDS / EBSD detectors
7-axis substage, cryo-capable side entry holder
Large chamber for compatibility with in-chamber instrumentation
Sample Finishing
Fischione Model 1040 NanoMill for polishing of FIB specimens
Fischione Model 1051 TEM Mill ion polisher
Gatan PIPS Model 1 ion polisher
Fischione Model 1020 plasma cleaner
Emitech K950X carbon coater/evaporator with film thickness monitor for depositing material and carbon coating samples prone to charging
Cemm CoatMaster for masking regions of interest during carbon coating
Fumehood with common laboratory solvents
SuperSTEM Computer Laboratory
A number of full user workstations with dedicated microscopy software are available for users. These include:
Gatan Digital Micrograph
Nion Swift
HREM Research plugins for Digital Micrograph, including SmartAlign, Jitterbug, PPA, qHAADF, MSA, GPA and DeconvHAADF. These plugins are part of HREM Research Affiliate Site Program
Bruker Esprit Software
Crystal Maker software, including Single Crystal
Wien2K
FEFF 9
Further Instrumentation
Depending on project requirements, further access to cutting-edge aberration corrected instruments and sample finishing facilities can be discussed directly with our staff, who will be able to direct you to the relevant facility. Additional instrumentation available within the SuperSTEM Consortium of Universities is listed here for convenience: