Canadian Centre for Electron Microscopy (CCEM)

McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario
What the facility does

Materials characterization and consultation to determine structural and compositional information on the micron to nano/atomic-scale using electron and ion microscopy.

Areas of expertise

The Canadian Centre for Electron Microscopy (CCEM) is a one-stop solution to materials characterization problems. Our experienced and dedicated staff are here to help determine structural and compositional information of material through their advanced knowledge in electron microscopy. Not only does the CCEM offer a suite of electron microscopes and sample preparation space that can be used for characterization needs, but our staff members are fully equipped and available to train users, acquire various data, prepare characterization reports, and consult on user’s specific questions.

As a user’s facility we offer training services on our instruments, or if preferred, we can perform full sample characterization starting from sample preparation to final results. To facilitate our user’s learning experience and networking, we also host various tutorials and workshops throughout the year. Our vision is to be one of the leading electron microscopy facilities in the world for the quality of the scientific research and for promoting interactions amongst researchers in various fields nationally and internationally.

Research services

Material analytical services including: data acquisition and processing/interpretation, sample preparation, user material/instrument consultation, user training/education.

Sectors of application
  • Aerospace and satellites
  • Automotive
  • Chemical industries
  • Clean technology
  • Defence and security industries
  • Energy
  • Environmental technologies and related services
  • Information and communication technologies and media
  • Manufacturing and processing
  • Mining, minerals and metals

Equipment 

Function

FEI Magellan 400 Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)

Extreme high-resolution Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) with sub-nanometer resolution, operates at 1 to 30 keV.

  • Oxford Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) system

JEOL JSM-7000F Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)

Equipped with a Schottky field emission gun offers high resolution and large probe currents at small probe diameters permitting characterization of nano-scale structures

  • A multipurpose specimen chamber, motorized specimen stage, single-action specimen exchange and an ideal geometry for techniques such as Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), Electron Backscattered Diffraction (EBSD) and electron-beam lithography

  • Resolution of 1.2 nm at 30 keV and 3.0 nm at 1 keV

  • Integrated Oxford Instruments X-Maxn 50 mm2 Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) detector and Nordlys II Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) Camera with AZtec EDS/EBSD software plus HKL Channel EBSD post-processing software for the simultaneous acquisition of elemental (Boron and higher Z-number elements) and crystal orientation data

JEOL 6610LV Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)

Tungsten filament equipped Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) with selectable low vacuum mode that allows for the analysis of non-conductive specimens without the need for heavy-metal coating

  • Large chamber which enables observation of specimens up to 200 mm in diameter

  • Resolution of 3.0 nm at 30 keV makes it possible to view secondary electron and backscattered composition images simultaneously

Thermo Scientific Spectra Ultra Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM)

Double aberration-corrected Transmission Electron Microscope/Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM/STEM) that can operate at multiple accelerating voltages to allow imaging of a variety of materials, including beam-sensitive samples

  • X-Field Emission Gun (X-FEG) Ultimono source

  • 30 keV, 60 keV, 200 keV, 300 keV

  • Monochromator

  • Corrected Electron Optical Systems GmbH (CEOS) hexapole aberration correctors on image- and probe-forming lenses

  • Super-Twin prime objective lens

  • Gatan Imaging Filter (GIF) Continuum HR (<0.1 eV resolution)

  • Gatan Quantum K3 direct electron detector

  • Ultra-X EDS detector

Single- and double-tilt holders, tomography holder, cryo-holder, heating holder

FEI Titan 80-300 LB Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM)

Image-corrected High-resolution Transmission Electron Microscope/Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope (HRTEM/STEM) that operates at 80 keV, 200 keV and 300 keV

  • X-Field Emission Gun (X-FEG) source

  • Monochromator

  • Large-gap Cryo-Twin objective lens

  • Corrected Electron Optical Systems GmbH (CEOS) hexapole aberration corrector on the image-forming lens

  • Gatan Quantum Spectrometer (<0.1 eV resolution)

  • Gatan Quantum K2 direct electron detector

  • Single- and double-tilt holders, tomography holder, cryo-holder, heating holder, liquid cell holder

Thermo Scientific Talos L120C Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM)

General purpose analytical TEM, with a lanthanum hexaboride (LaB6) filament operating at 120 keV.

Thermo Scientific Talos F200X Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope (STEM)

TEM/STEM with capabilities ranging from nano-beam and convergent beam diffraction to high-resolution phase contrast and energy-filtered imaging

  •  Super-X quad-EDS (energy-dispersive) detectors

  • Gatan Spectrometer for electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) and energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM)

  • Single- and double-tilt holders, in-situ liquid electrochemistry holder

Thermo Scientific Helios 5 DualBeam Focused Ion Beam Scanning Electron Microscope (FIB-SEM)

Dualbeam gallium ions (Ga+) instrument combining a Schottky field emission Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) with a focused beam of gallium ions (Ga+)

  • Field-Emission Gun (FEG) electron column enhanced by an UniColore (UC+, second generation chromatic aberration corrector)

  • Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) with a silicon drift detector

Thermo Scientific Helios G4 UXe DualBeam Plasma-Focused Ion Beam (FIB)

An inductively coupled xenon ion (Xe+) plasma (ICP) source with an ion current that can reach as high as 2.5 µA

  • Field-Emission Gun (FEG) electron column enhanced by an UniColore (UC+, second generation chromatic aberration corrector)

  • 3D Focused Ion Beam (FIB) tomography of large volumes

Cameca LEAP 5000X XS Atom Probe Tomography (APT)

3D analysis of materials at the sub-nanometer scale

  • Ultraviolet laser (355 nm wavelength)

  • Analyses include dopants in semiconductors, alloying elements, concentration profiles with atomic sensitivity and clustering

JEOL JAMP-9500F Field Emission Auger (FE-Auger)

The field emission Auger microprobe is a high-sensitivity instrument for surface analysis

  • Minimum probe diameter of 8 nm, and high energy resolution

  • Hemispherical electrostatic energy analyser with a large acceptance angle and a multi-channel detector, elements can be detected with concentrations as low as 0.2 atomic %

  • Incorporated Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Energy-dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS)

  • In-situ ion gun, allowing depth profiling to a depth of a few hundred nanometers

Zeiss Crossbeam 350 Laser

Dual beam gallium ions (Ga+) instrument combining a Schottky field emission Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) with a focused beam of gallium ions (Ga+)

  • Femtosecond machining laser in airlock, capable of rapid material ablation, precisely controlled via SEM pattern mapping

  • 3D Focused Ion Beam (FIB) tomography

Zeiss Orion NanoFab microscope

Dual beam microscope with He/Ne gas field ion source as the primary beam, and Ga focused ion beam as the secondary.

Thermo Scientific Quattro S Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope (ESEM)

Secondary electron microscope (SEM) with field emission source, also equipped with differential pumping and pressure controlled apertures, as well as gaseous detectors for operation in environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) mode

  • Low vacuum and ESEM mode pressures up to 4kPa
  • EDS detector
  • Cooling stage
  • High vacuum heating stage (1000 C)

Nion HERMES Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope (STEM)

Ultrahigh energy resolution (< 5 meV) monochromated scanning transmission electron microscope.