- Mitigates Contamination during Observations Made with an Electron Microscope
- Cleans Specimens and Tools
- Hydrophilizes the Specimen Surface
Mitigate Contamination during Observation
Observation of fine surface structure in SEM requires imaging at low accelerating voltage. Under these conditions,
surface contamination can conceal the observation of this fine structure.
Observation was performed at a magnification of 100,000 times (left figure), then at a lower magnification of 30,000 times (right figure). When the specimen is not processed (top row), the part observed at 100,000 times turns darker and less clear. However, after it is cleaned using the Excimer UV Cleaner (bottom row), contamination caused by irradiation of an electron beam is less, because there are fewer hydrocarbon compounds on the specimen surface.
Cleaning Contamination Adhered to the Specimen Surface
If a specimen is used or stored for a long time, contamination accumulates due to organic compounds contained in the environment.
The Excimer UV Cleaner can eliminate contamination caused by organic substances in a dry environment.
Hydrophilization
When the Excimer UV Cleaner irradiates UV light, reactive oxygen species are generated and can form polar functional groups on the surface which improves hydrophilicity. This pre-treatment process can be applied to improve bonding when processing a specimen for EM observation.
Mechanism for Specimen Cleaning / Hydrophilization Using the Excimer UV Cleaner
Process of contamination caused by the electron beam
Cleaning process
The height of the specimen tray can be adjusted to fit large specimens.