30 August 2002

In April, we first reported on the production of the HV-GIF 2000, a new Imaging Filter for use with high voltage electron microscopes. The first of its type, this unit is destined for the new JEOL ARM1300S microscope at the Korean Basic Science Institute. Recently this system was installed and tested on the ARM microscope at the JEOL factory in Akishima.

Encased under several tons of lead shielding, the system now sits in a trench under the microscope column. To test the performance, the HV-GIF 2000 was aligned at 400 kV and 1250 kV, the lowest and highest ARM1300S operating voltages. During the tests, the HV-GIF 2000 proved to be all that was expected. Both the imaging mode and the spectroscopy mode are up to spec, giving low distortion, low chromatic aberration and excellent overall performance. The high-voltage MultiScan™ camera, the first MultiScan to be bolted to the end of a high-voltage GIF ever, showed distortion free imaging, high resolution and good sensitivity, yielding images with even higher quality than predicted.

The HV-GIF 2000 will add energy-loss spectroscopy and imaging capabilities to the high-voltage TEM, dramatically increasing the amount of information that researchers can obtain from their samples. Combined with software that allows point-and-click operation for EFTEM and EELS, automated performance tuning, rapid quantitative EELS analysis and spectrum imaging and much more, the HV-GIF 2000 will be a powerful tool that greatly expands the possibilities of high-voltage electron microscopy.

To download a sample image of graphitized carbon fringes, recorded with the HV-GIF 2000 and the HV-MultiScan at 1250 kV, click here.

The system will ultimately be installed in a special facility at the Korea Basic Sciences Institute inTaejon Korea. Of the other 3 High Voltage Filters in the world (all produced by Gatan) 2 are in Japan and 1 in Germany. The system will be used for studying a number of phenomena in materials science (effect of x-rays on materials for example) and to examine very thick preparations.

We will keep you up-to-date on the exciting developments of this groundbreaking work.