Auto Slice & View (ASV) fully commissioned

The nanoFAB is pleased to announce that the FIB/SEM tomography is fully commissioned on the Helios Hydra Plasma FIB/SEM dual beam system. 

FIB/SEM tomography is a high-resolution 3D volume analysis technique, by serial sectioning – sequential application of SEM imaging and FIB milling.

3D reconstruction of Mitochondria in Hela cells
Sample Courtesy: Drs. Thomas Simmen, Mike Hendzel and Xuejun Sun, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta
Process details:
Volume 1: O beam, 30 kV, 1.7 nA, 3 nm slice thickness, 4550 slices
Volume 2: Xe beam, 30 kV, 4 nA, 5 nm slice thickness, 5990 slices

Multiple ion species (Xe, Ar, O, or N) are available, enabling optimal ion beams for various types of materials. While Xe beam is suitable for general inorganic materials, Oxygen ions provide much better milling quality for biological samples embedded in resins, in terms of less milling artifacts.

Porosity analysis of Porous Sn
Sample Courtesy: Drs. Peter Kalisvaart, Jillian Buriak (University of Alberta) and Bing Cao (Nanode Battery Technologies)
Process details: Xe beam, 30 kV, 4nA, 10 nm slice thickness, 895 slices

3D reconstruction of Al and Ce phases in Al-Ce alloy spheres
Sample Courtesy: Drs. Jonas Valloton and Hani Henein, Faculty of Engineering, University of Alberta
Process details:
Volume 1: Low Mag./large volume, Xe beam, 30 kV, 4 nA, 30 nm slice thickness, 2179 slices
Volume 2: High Mag./small volume, Xe beam, 30 kV, 4 nA, 5nm slice thickness, 1220 slices