AeroSurf 1500 Tabletop Atmospheric Scanning Electron Microscope (ASEM)

Overview

Hitachi developed a new concept in scanning electron microscopes, the AeroSurf. The hybrid tabletop atmospheric SEM (ASEM) has an extremely thin membrane which separates the evacuated column and atmospheric-pressure chamber, enabling the observation of typically difficult specimens, such as bulk or wet samples, in their natural state.

Atmospheric SEM Observation (Figure 1)

• Specimen is placed under atmospheric pressure (10⁵ Pa)
• The specimen chamber is separated from the SEM unit by a membrane, which maintains vacuum in the column while allowing electron imaging of the specimen at an atmospheric pressure
• Observation while under vacuum is also available (approx. 10³ to 10⁵ Pa)

Low Vacuum Observation (Figure 2)

• The membrane is removable allowing low-vacuum SEM observation as well as EDS analysis
• Equipped with a high-sensitivity semiconductor BSE detector

Features

• SEM observation of high-moisture specimens at an atmospheric pressure without preprocessing
• SEM observation under a wide pressure range from low vacuum to atmosphere (10⁵ Pa)
• ES-Corrector equipped for wide scatter signal discrimination and an enhanced image quality
• A compact design (330 mm wide) minimizes system footprint
• EDS analysis optionally available (vacuum mode)

Specifications

Gallery

Materials

Observation of Zeptoron PP (Polypropylene Nanofibers)

Plants

Chrysanthemum Pollen

Food

Dry Pasta

Bio

Escherichia coli