User:Jjjarcze/sandbox

Category: SOP

= Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope SOP =

The following is an SOP for the Philips XL 40 ESEM.

Loss Prevention

 * Specimens must be secured onto a mount.
 * A specimen must not be larger than 4 inches tall.
 * Do not work at z-positions less than 10 mm.
 * Do not load multiple specimens having differences in height greater than 5 mm.
 * Always use rubber gloves to handle specimens and specimen holders.

Procedure

 * 1) If any sample is non conductive then it will first need to be carbon coated or Pt/Pd coated.
 * 2) Secure sample onto a mount, then place the mount in a pin hole located within the ESEM chamber.
 * 3) Turn Chamber Camera on.
 * 4) Crack open the main valve of the Nitrogen (N2) cylinder.
 * 5) Close chamber door and hold shut.
 * 6) In the Vaccum window, click the vent button while holding the chamber door shut.
 * 7) Expand the BEAM dialog and click the SET GUN button. Make sure the Autobias and Autosaturation are unchecked and the gun bias position is 1.
 * 8) In the Detectors tab, select SE.
 * 9) Adjust brightness and contrast knobs until features are visible.
 * 10) Reduce magnification to a minimum and find your sample by click and dragging the mouse cursor on the screen.
 * 11) Once sample is found increase magnification and adjust focus. Use fine focus for magnifications past 1000x, use coarse focus for magnitudes equal to and less than 1000x.
 * 12) Check the working distance (WD) in the data bar on the bottom dialog box and see if it matches the z-position in the stage dialog box. If these do not match then retrain the Z-position.
 * 13) Optimize an image by adjusting the magnification, brightness and contrast.
 * 14) When ready to capture an image, open the Aztec software, or any other compatible image capturing software.
 * 15) Open "Point & ID" from the Techniques tab.
 * 16) Click New Specimen.
 * 17) Click on Scan Image Tab.
 * 18) Click start to acquire an image.