Technical details

The scanning electron microscope (SEM) Zeiss Supra 55 VP is a high-resolution scanning electron microscope (SEM) from Zeiss.

The microscope has a field emission cathode (FEG). In combination with the improved GEMINI® column, it achieves a high image resolution over the entire voltage range from 100 V to 30 kV.

The "VP" in the name stands for "Variable Pressure" and means that in addition to conventional examinations in high vacuum (HV mode), it is also possible to examine samples at pressures in the sample chamber of up to 1.33 mbar (VP mode).

The VP mode enables the examination of "wet" samples and, due to the way it works in VP mode, also of materials that are not or only slightly electrically conductive without "vaporizing" them with conductive elements such as gold.

In addition to an Everhart-Thornley detector (SE2 detector) and the VP-SE detector (VP mode), our Zeiss Supra 55 VP also has an in-lens detector and a 4 quadrant backscattered electron detector (QBSD).

The sample chamber of the Zeiss Supra is relatively large, so that larger samples can also be examined.

Due to its equipment, the Zeiss Supra is particularly suitable for examining nanostructures. A special feature of our Zeiss Supra is the very good equipment with analytical methods from OXFORD INSTRUMENTS: EDX element analysis with an 80 mm² silicon drift EDX detector (SDD), WDX and EBSD.

The most important specifications are listed below:

Resolution:

1.0 nm at 15 kV

1.7 nm at 1 kV

3.5 nm at 0.2 kV

2.0 nm at 30 kV (VP mode)

VP vacuum:

2 - 133 Pa, adjustable in 1 Pa steps