Modern industrial processes require high throughput for cost-effective production. This pace is metered by the need for quality, reliability, and consistency in the final product. Process control, therefore, seeks to optimize and regulate production to strike a balance between output and quality. Monitoring of various parameters, such as size, morphology, and impurities, must be as efficient as possible to minimize the impact of the analysis on overall production time. Additionally, observations must be highly reliable to ensure that process adjustments are based on the true characteristics of the sample.
Despite the highly versatile and valuable data that can be obtained on electron microscopes (EM), these instruments have historically been impractical for process control applications due to the need for manual operation. Today, with the advent of dedicated tools and automated software, EM is becoming a vital part of production monitoring and analysis. Chemical, as well as structural, information can even be acquired by coupling energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) with EM imaging within the same instrument.
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) tools are capable of automatically visualizing, quantifying, and reporting on sub-micron to nanometer-scale particles, inclusions, and faults that fundamentally impact product quality. For even greater detail, transmission electron microscopes (TEM) are able to observe and characterize sub-nanoscale features, such as the structural and elemental composition of nanoparticles. This rapid analysis, performed in a matter of minutes, produces actionable, robust statistics on key sample parameters for critical process control and improvement. Finally, if sub-surface information is needed, DualBeam (focused ion beam and SEM) tools are capable of probing into samples through alternating surface milling and imaging, providing 3D information such as layer thickness.
Thermo Fisher Scientific offers a range of hardware and software solutions dedicated to process control applications. Follow the links below for additional information.
Battery Research
Battery development is enabled by multi-scale analysis with microCT, SEM and TEM, Raman spectroscopy, XPS, and digital 3D visualization and analysis. Learn how this approach provides the structural and chemical information needed to build better batteries.
Nanoparticles
Materials have fundamentally different properties at the nanoscale than at the macroscale. To study them, S/TEM instrumentation can be combined with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy to obtain nanometer, or even sub-nanometer, resolution data.
Metals Research
Effective production of metals requires precise control of inclusions and precipitates. Our automated tools can perform a variety of tasks critical for metal analysis including; nanoparticle counting, EDS chemical analysis and TEM sample preparation.
Catalysis Research
Catalysts are critical for a majority of modern industrial processes. Their efficiency depends on the microscopic composition and morphology of the catalytic particles; EM with EDS is ideally suited for studying these properties.
Polymers Research
Polymer microstructure dictates the material’s bulk characteristics and performance. Electron microscopy enables comprehensive microscale analysis of polymer morphology and composition for R&D and quality control applications.
2D Materials
Novel materials research is increasingly interested in the structure of low-dimensional materials. Scanning transmission electron microscopy with probe correction and monochromation allows for high-resolution two-dimensional materials imaging.
Automotive Materials Testing
Every component in a modern vehicle is designed for safety, efficiency, and performance. Detailed characterization of automotive materials with electron microscopy and spectroscopy informs critical process decisions, product improvements, and new materials.
(S)TEM Sample Preparation
DualBeam microscopes enable the preparation of high-quality, ultra-thin samples for (S)TEM analysis. Thanks to advanced automation, users with any experience level can obtain expert-level results for a wide range of materials.
3D Materials Characterization
Development of materials often requires multi-scale 3D characterization. DualBeam instruments enable serial sectioning of large volumes and subsequent SEM imaging at nanometer scale, which can be processed into high-quality 3D reconstructions of the sample.
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EDS Elemental Analysis
Thermo Scientific Phenom Elemental Mapping Software provides fast and reliable information on the distribution of chemical elements within a sample.
EDS Analysis with ChemiSEM Technology
Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy for materials characterization.
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Environmental SEM (ESEM)
Environmental SEM allows materials to be imaged in their native state. This is ideally suited for academic and industrial researchers who need to test and analyze samples that are wet, dirty, reactive, outgassing or otherwise not vacuum compatible.
In Situ experimentation
Direct, real-time observation of microstructural changes with electron microscopy is necessary to understand the underlying principles of dynamic processes such as recrystallization, grain growth, and phase transformation during heating, cooling, and wetting.
Multi-scale analysis
Novel materials must be analyzed at ever higher resolution while retaining the larger context of the sample. Multi-scale analysis allows for the correlation of various imaging tools and modalities such as X-ray microCT, DualBeam, Laser PFIB, SEM and TEM.
The Automated NanoParticle Workflow (APW) is a transmission electron microscope workflow for nanoparticle analysis, offering large area, high resolution imaging and data acquisition at the nanoscale, with on-the-fly processing.
(S)TEM Sample Preparation
DualBeam microscopes enable the preparation of high-quality, ultra-thin samples for (S)TEM analysis. Thanks to advanced automation, users with any experience level can obtain expert-level results for a wide range of materials.
3D Materials Characterization
Development of materials often requires multi-scale 3D characterization. DualBeam instruments enable serial sectioning of large volumes and subsequent SEM imaging at nanometer scale, which can be processed into high-quality 3D reconstructions of the sample.
EDS Elemental Analysis
Thermo Scientific Phenom Elemental Mapping Software provides fast and reliable information on the distribution of chemical elements within a sample.
EDS Analysis with ChemiSEM Technology
Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy for materials characterization.
Environmental SEM (ESEM)
Environmental SEM allows materials to be imaged in their native state. This is ideally suited for academic and industrial researchers who need to test and analyze samples that are wet, dirty, reactive, outgassing or otherwise not vacuum compatible.
In Situ experimentation
Direct, real-time observation of microstructural changes with electron microscopy is necessary to understand the underlying principles of dynamic processes such as recrystallization, grain growth, and phase transformation during heating, cooling, and wetting.
Multi-scale analysis
Novel materials must be analyzed at ever higher resolution while retaining the larger context of the sample. Multi-scale analysis allows for the correlation of various imaging tools and modalities such as X-ray microCT, DualBeam, Laser PFIB, SEM and TEM.
The Automated NanoParticle Workflow (APW) is a transmission electron microscope workflow for nanoparticle analysis, offering large area, high resolution imaging and data acquisition at the nanoscale, with on-the-fly processing.
Electron microscopy services for
the materials science
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