The Sub-Ångström Low Voltage Electron (SALVE) microscope should improve contrast and reduce damage on bio-molecules and two-dimensional nanomaterials, such as graphene
HILLSBORO, Ore., March 16, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FEI (Nasdaq:FEIC) announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Germany's University of Ulm and Heidelberg-based CEOS GmbH to develop a sub-Ǻngström low-voltage electron microscope, in the frame of Uni-Ulm's SALVE project. The multi-year collaboration will involve the planned development of a dedicated aberration-corrected transmission electron microscope (TEM) that is capable of imaging radiation-sensitive materials, such as two-dimensional (2D) and organic samples, and selected molecules, with molecular or even atomic-scale resolution. The TEM is also expected to provide spectroscopic information at very low acceleration voltages.
"Current-generation TEMs typically operate at high voltages of up to 300kV, which provides limited contrast and destroys radiation-sensitive samples before they can be imaged," states Trisha Rice, vice president and general manager of Materials Science at FEI. "The SALVE project is focused on designing a TEM that can operate at accelerating voltages as low as 20kV, enabling it to provide new structural and spectroscopic information of samples, which previously could not be imaged because they would be destroyed at the higher voltages."
CEOS, which has expertise in corrected electron optical systems, is focused on developing new optimized corrector technology to compensate for the chromatic and spherical aberration at low voltages. FEI will be developing the TEM system itself, which will be based on a Titan™ 80-300 TEM platform, one of the world's first and most powerful commercial aberration-corrected microscopes. While the University of Ulm is working on application-related development, including sample preparation methods and the theory of imaging with low-energetic electrons.
"The SALVE project, financially supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts, Baden Württemberg, Germany, started in 2008 and progress has been made," states the project leader, Professor Ute Kaiser, Electron Microscopy Group of Materials Science, University of Ulm. "We greatly appreciate that FEI has stepped in to build on these developments and bring the SALVE project to its final phase. Our keys to success is the ability to correct optical aberrations, the stability of the microscope platform, and the progress in sample preparation and contrast interpretation. As scientists, we hardly can wait to operate the machine and to see what kinds of ground-breaking discoveries we might possibly be able to achieve."
Prof. Max Haider, CEOS, adds, "The SALVE project involves the use of low accelerating voltages, which have been rarely used in electron microscopes to date. We have had great success with our spherical aberration correctors on FEI's Titan platform, and we would like to extend that capability to correct the chromatic aberration that dominates at low voltages. This new microscope could open up entirely new fields in materials science, which involve investigating materials that have been impossible to study with existing microscope technology."
About the University of Ulm
The University of Ulm is situated in the east of Baden-Württemberg at the river Danube. The research, studying, and teaching activities concentrate on medicine, economics, natural science, engineering and material science. About 10,000 students are currently enlisted at the University of Ulm. The electron microscopy group headed by Prof. Ute Kaiser is well-known for the research in the field of low-voltage TEM and its application to novel beam sensitive materials such as low-dimensional objects. The group was one of the first adopters and users of aberration-corrected TEM technology with the FEI Titan system already in 2005. In 2008 Ute Kaiser started to establish the SALVE project with the aim of developing the prerequisites for transmission electron microscopy capable to reach atomic resolution at 20 kV. More information can be found at: www.salve-project.de.
About CEOS, GmbH
CEOS GmbH is a privately owned SME which concentrates on the developments and research of advanced charged particle optical components like aberration correctors for high resolution TEMs and STEMs as well as SEMs. Most of these components are produced by CEOS and after factory alignment and proper testing shipped as OEM products to the EM manufacturers. CEOS is located in Heidelberg, Germany and has more than 40 employees. More information can be found at: www.ceos-gmbh.de.
About FEI
FEI Company (Nasdaq:FEIC) designs, manufactures and supports a broad range of high-performance microscopy workflow solutions that provide images and answers at the micro-, nano- and picometer scales. Its innovation and leadership enable customers in industry and science to increase productivity and make breakthrough discoveries. Headquartered in Hillsboro, Ore., USA, FEI has over 2,600 employees and sales and service operations in more than 50 countries around the world. More information can be found at: www.fei.com.
FEI Safe Harbor Statement
This news release contains forward-looking statements that include statements regarding the performance capabilities and benefits of the SALVE project and the Titan 80-300 TEM. Factors that could affect these forward-looking statements include but are not limited to our ability to manufacture, ship, deliver and install the tools or software as expected; failure of the product or technology to perform as expected; unexpected technology problems and challenges; changes to the technology; the inability of FEI, its suppliers or project partners to make the technological advances required for the technology to achieve anticipated results; and the inability of the customer to deploy the tools or develop and deploy the expected new applications. Please also refer to our Form 10-K, Forms 10-Q, Forms 8-K and other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for additional information on these factors and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. FEI assumes no duty to update forward-looking statements.