The GV10x DS Asher’s ability to remove carbon contamination from Electron Microscopy samples and chambers is well recognized by electron microscopists worldwide. Contamination control improvements beyond traditional methods: 1st generation plasma cleaners, LN2 trapping, N2 purging offer EM researches freedom to remove carbon artifacts in minutes and mitigate chamber contamination buildup.

Superior GV10x performance results from low pressure plasma production. Slow plasma species recombination and long mean free paths disperse bright UV throughout the chamber volume. The chemical interaction combined with extended power range converts surface carbon into gas phase molecules that are pumped out of chambers – not just immobilized on trapping surfaces.

Although cleaning times vary between instruments depending on contamination loads, the efficient GV10x DS Asher can be shifted to several laboratory microscopes tools to keep all microscopes in the laboratory contamination free. Qwk-Switch™, QSTM mounting facilitates moving one GV10x Source from instrument to instrument.

With the progression of nanoscience, electron beams become more focused, electron beam energies decrease, and precursor gas use is becoming more common. High resolution at low landing energy becomes increasingly dependent on minimizing carbon contamination at low levels. The Asher downstream plasma process accomplishes the tasks quickly, easily saving operator valuable time. Unlike kinetic sputter etch cleaning in usual ‘plasma cleaners’, the downstream plasma process is a gentle chemical etch. The process has revolutionized the means to eliminate carbon molecules and hydrocarbons in vacuum chambers.

SEM, FIB and TEM Applications

Plasma cleaning is the most non-invasive effective way to prepare samples for electron microscopy when outgassing materials are observed. As the plasma cleaning process removes hydrocarbon contamination layers, it can remove other carbon structures at the same time. This can be an issue for TEM application since the carbon support grids become less robust after each cleaning period. ibss offers non-kinetic, gentle mechanism to minimize the side effects of plasma sample interactions. The results show the system effectively removes contamination while preserving the carbon support film for many cleaning runs.

To read the full journal paper, click here.

Load Lock

Cleaning samples in load locks is facilitated by Qwk-Switch mounting and software that automates the cleaning in the load lock and sample entry. Pre-cleaning on the load lock minimize chamber contamination and reduces chamber cleaning. In fact, the load lock door can be opened to clean the chamber. Please contact us for ibss solutions on load lock configurations.

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