Image of user on the JEOL 6610 LV-SEM at Plymouth Electron Microscopy Centre

Guide to the facilities

Plymouth Electron Microscopy Centre (PEMC) Electron Microscopes:

- JEOL 7001 FE SEM

  • OI Nordlys EBSD (materials)
  • OI WAVE WDS
  • OI X-Max 50mm2
  • Deben STEM Detector; generation 5
  • Tensile test stage; Gatan Micro-test 2000.

- JEOL 6610 LV SEM

  • OI X-Max 80mm2
  • OI Nordlys EBSD (earth sciences)
  • Cryo System; Quorum Technologies PP3000 (temp. range down to -190C).

- JEOL 5600 LV SEM

- JEOL 1400 TEM

  • 120 kV TEM with Gatan Orius.

PEMC Support Equipment:

  • Leica EM UC 7 Ultramicrotome 
  • Reichert-Jung Ultracut E
  • Reichert-Jung Ultracut 
  • Quorum Q150T Coating System
  • Buehler Vibromet 2.
Other preparation and support facilities include a range of optical microscopes, macro-imaging, critical point drying and coating systems. Samples can be coated in gold, carbon, palladium or chrome in-house. 

Specimens can be cut/polished also in-house for geological or materials analyses in either the rock preparation lab (Brunel Laboratories) or mechanical engineering preparation lab (Smeaton Building) by technical staff. 

A Buehler Virbomet 2 automatic vibratory polisher is also available for polishing to an EBSD-standard and equipped with specimen holders for standard grain mounts and thin section work. 

JEOL 7001 F SEM

This Field Emission SEM is an ultra-high resolution instrument fitted with a comprehensive suite of analytical tools, using a Schottky Electron Gun. Technical specification of the microscope itself is below:

Resolution: 1.2 nm (30 kV)
Magnification: 10 – 500,000x
Accelerating Voltage: 0.5 – 30 kV
 
JEOL 6610 LV SEM

This variable pressure SEM is a tungsten-filament microscope fitted with a comprehensive suite of analytical tools including a cryo-stage. Technical specification of the microscope itself is below:

Resolution: 3 nm (30 kV)
Magnification: 5 – 300,000x
Accelerating Voltage: 0.3 – 30 kV.

JEOL 1400 TEM

Technical specification of the microscope itself is below:

Resolution: 0.38 nm 
Magnification: 10 – 1,200,000x
Accelerating Voltage: 40 – 120 kV.

Using the equipment

To book time on the equipment, please contact a member of our team on emc@plymouth.ac.uk.