FEI has sold a Magellan extreme high-resolution scanning microscope (XHR SEM) to Wageningen University in the Netherlands.
The Magellan family of SEMs provides high-throughput, sub-nanometre resolution at low accelerating voltages, while retaining flexibility and ease-of-use, according to FEI.
Adriaan van Aelst, manager at the Wageningen Electron Microscopy Centre, Wageningen University, said: 'The Magellan XHR SEM will enable us to extend our SEM analysis to sub-nanometre, high-resolution SEM imaging at low voltages, and at ambient and low temperatures.
'The Magellan's combination of low-voltage imaging with high-resolution power is essential to analysing very small and fragile surface structures.' High-resolution SEM has traditionally required the use of higher accelerating voltages in order to diminish the beam-broadening effects of chromatic aberration.
However, higher beam energies can damage the sample and degrade both the resolution and surface specificity of the signal as the beam penetrates more deeply beneath the surface, particularly in light-element biological materials.
The Magellan provides sub-nanometre resolution over the full range of beam energies, from less than 1kV to 30kV, allowing high-resolution, ultra-structural imaging of sensitive biological samples.
Equally important, it does so without imposing additional constraints on the sample or increasing operational complexity.
