[21p-223-1~12] 7.2 Applications and technologies of electron beams

[21p-223-5] Development of automatic TEM/SEM specimen preparation instrument for nanomaterial dispersed in liquid

〇Satoru Akai¹, Kazuhiro Kumagai², Nobuo Handa¹, Akira Kurokawa², Yoshikazu Sasaki¹, Naoki Kikuchi¹, Shinichi Kitamura¹, Hironobu Manabe¹ (1.JEOL, 2.AIST)

Keywords:specimen preparation, electron microscopy, nanoparticle

For observation of nanomaterials by electron microscopies, usual preparation method is to perform air-drying after dropping nanoparticle-dispersed liquid on electron microscope membrane substrate by using a tool such as micropipet. In this method, the particle agglomeration occurs frequently, limiting the observation. In order to solve this problem, we have developed automatic TEM/SEM specimen preparation instrument experimentally, which is based on freeze-dry method. The prototype of this instrument consists of Inkjet-nozzle for minute and fixed dropping, Peltier cooling unit for freezing, and dry-pump for vacuum drying. Using this instrument, we can spread nanoparticle of Silicon dioxide and Polystyrene latex with no stack on electron microscope membrane substrate.