Hitachi has opened a new Advanced Scanning Electron Microscope Facility in the Cavendish Laboratories, Cambridge University, UK
The long standing research collaboration between Hitachi and the Cambridge University has been enhanced with the installation of three state of the art scanning electron microscopes.
The new facility will make some of Hitachi's unique instruments, including the S-5500 in-lens SEM, openly accessible to university researchers.
The S-5500 In-lens field emission SEM represents the state of the art in high resolution SEM/STEM providing better than 0.4A resolution imaging.
Adjustable transmitted electron imaging, along with EDX solid angles much greater than in conventional SEMs mean that the S-5500 bridges the gap between SEM and TEM techniques and will provide valuable insights into new nanomaterials and devices.
The S-3400N variable pressure SEM, featuring excellent low kV performance and high sensitivity detectors, will provide an incredibly versatile addition to the facilities within the Cavendish Laboratory.
A TM-1000 tabletop microscope, fully equipped with EDX, is also installed and will provide fast turn-around results to assist device fabrication in the Microelectronics Research Centre.
Additionally, the tabletop microscope will be used to make electron microscopy accessible to a much broader audience than is traditionally possible.
A ceremony to recognise the official opening took place on 19 May 2008 and was attended by Prof Allison Richards (vice chancellor, Cambridge University), Etsuhiko Shoyama (chairman, Hitachi), Stephen Gomersall (chief executive for Europe, Hitachi), Prof Henning Sirringhaus (Hitachi professor of electron device physics) and David Williams (manager, Hitachi Cambridge Laboratory) along with other senior staff from both Hitachi and Cambridge University.
A series of open workshops will take place during Autumn 2008 to demonstrate the capabilities of the new facility, in particular the role of the S-5500 in providing an alternative approach to microscopy of nanomaterials.
