OPERATION OF THE PHILIPS CM-200 FEG-TEM

When not in use, the CM-200 should be in the MICROSCOPE ON configuration with the HIGH
TENSION ON (illuminates green when the high tension is on).

. The microscope is normally never turned off.

Preliminary

 Add liquid Nitrogen to the Dewar next to the sample holder. (Anticontamination device:) Place the
metal-clad glass vacuum Dewar into its holder to the right of the column so that the soft copper wire
"beard" hangs inside it. Fill the Dewar nearly full with liquid nitrogen and place the Styrofoam cap on
top. Wait about 15 minutes and top off with LN2.
 Log in (in the hallway)
 Go to vacuum and make sure pressure reading of IGP is below 10, preferably at 5 before proceeding
to the next step.

1. Specimen Holder Removal, Loading, and Insertion

Never remove or insert the specimen holder when the red indicator light (on the front of the compu-
stage housing) is on. Do not touch the leading edge of the specimen holder (from the o-ring to the
tip) with ungloved hands. This portion resides inside the vacuum and must be kept clean.

There are several types of sample holders. The first type is single tilt (Alpha direction). The second
type is double tilt (tilt in Alpha and Beta). Cold holder consists of a sample holder and a chamber to
contain liquid nitrogen. Thermometer and heating systems are attached. Heating holder can be used
to hold samples that needed to be heated (up to 1000C) during microstructure exploring.

REMOVAL: To remove the specimen holder from the column, carefully pull the round black
handle straight out until it stops, and hold it firmly so that it does not get pulled back into the 'scope
by the vacuum. Now rotate it clockwise until it stops again; it may now be pulled straight out
(carefully), free of the column. The specimen holder should be set down only on its stand.

SPECIMEN LOADING INTO THE SPECIMEN HOLDER:

(i) Use the pin tool (located in the stand) under the tip to lift the grid clamping device at the tip of the
specimen holder.
(ii) Transfer your grid to the specimen holder using forceps. To make scanning the grid easier, you
may wish to orient one set of grid bars parallel to the long axis of the specimen holder.
(iii) Use the pin tool to carefully lower the clamping device onto the grid and lock it in place.

INSERTING THE SPECIMEN HOLDER INTO THE COMPUSTAGE:

(i) Touch the sample holder tip to one of the aperture handle to discharge the sample holder.
(ii) With the small pin in the holder tip at the 04:00 o'clock position, carefully insert the specimen
holder into the airlock entryway at the center of the compu-stage. Insertion of the holder will
initiate the pre-pumping sequence, and the red indicator light on the front of the compu-stage will
come on. Slide the holder in until it stops; at this point it will not go all the way in. (The data
monitor screen will automatically open to the HOLDER SELECTION PAGE. Press the

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 appropriate key (in most cases you'll choose NO COMPUSTAGE B TILT) and then press the
READY button (below the data monitor screen). The data monitor screen will return to the
previously selected page (normally TEM BRIGHTFIELD).
(iii) After the red indicator light goes out, grip the specimen holder firmly by its black plastic handle
and rotate it counterclockwise to 6:00 o'clock position. When it reaches the limit of its rotation,
pressure will begin to push the holder into the column. Maintain a firm grip on the handle as the
holder enters the column so that it does not get drawn in too quickly. Once the holder appears to
be all the way in, jiggle it very gently to ensure that it is indeed inserted completely into the
column.

2. Initiating Operation
When the CM-200 is ON, the white STAND BY and red MICROSCOPE OFF buttons will be
illuminated; the ON button will be dark. The lit buttons indicate their availability as emergency
functions while the microscope is running.
Depress the PANEL DIM knob to illuminate the data monitor screen and emission gauge.
Clockwise rotation of this knob increases the intensity of the panel lighting and the light on the
flexible stalk. Clockwise rotation of the DATA DIM knob increases the brightness of the data
monitor screen.
Ensure that the UHV and HIVAC indicator lights are lit (green). If they are not it may be necessary
to press the VACUUM SYSTEM ON button and wait (20 to 30 minutes) until the two lights come
on, indicating that operational vacuum status has been attained.
For transmission electron microscopy, press the HR-TEM key on the MODE SELECTION page. If
the letters HR-TEM are highlighted it will be necessary to press only once; otherwise press the HR-
TEM key twice. The screen should now display the HR-TEM BRIGHTFIELD page.
Press the VACUUM key to check the vacuum status of the instrument. It should read READY at
the top center of the data monitor screen. If it reads “START-UP”, the operator must find IAC staff
for assistance and wait for the vacuum to improve before the scope can be used. Do not use the
microscope unless the ion getter pump (IGP) reading is lower than 10.
To return to the TEM BRIGHTFIELD page press the READY button.
To select the operating voltage, press the PARAMETERS key to open the PARAMETERS pages.
On the first page, the kV may be modified by pressing the left (to lower the HT) or right (to
increase the HT) softkey adjacent to the HIGH TENSION kV notation on the screen. Most TEM
users in this laboratory work at 200 kV.
Press Ready, Mode, choose configuration page. Turn the filament knob slowly until the Ext voltage
reads 3.8. As a rule of thumb, rotate the knob until you hear two clicks; wait; rotate again for two
clicks; wait; repeat until reaching 3.8.
Open the valve (from Close to Open, anti-clockwise) to the right of the microscope. You should see
the beam. Move sample feature to the middle of the viewing area with the Joystick.

3. Beam Alignment
These functions are performed with or without a specimen holder. If a holder is not in place, a
radiation safety interlock prevents the spot size from being changed to a number lower than 5 (the
largest and brightest spot size is no. 1). This will produce a much dimmer beam image than that
seen with the holder in place.

Using the MAGNIFICATION knob, select a mag around 17,500x.

Choose which C2 aperture( On Column) you want to use (usually position 3, which is a 100-micron
aperture) by rotating the largest knurled knob on the aperture control on the column to the desired
position.
Turn the INTENSITY knob( on left hand panel) to bring the beam to crossover (the smallest spot of
the beam) and center it using the Beam SHIFT X/Y knobs.

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 Using the INTENSITY knob, slowly overfocus (turn clockwise) the beam to coincide with the
diameter of the intermediate-sized black circle on the phosphorescent viewing screen. If the
defocused beam is not coincident with the circle, adjust it using the C2 aperture centering controls.
These are both the intermediate-sized knurled knob on the aperture rod and the knurled knob on the
side of the assembly (to the right). DO NOT TOUCH THE SMALLEST, INNERMOST KNOB
BECAUSE IT UNSCREWS THE APERTURE ROD. Repeat these steps, until there is no lateral
shifting of the beam when going thru cross-over with the INTENSITY knob.
Using the INTENSITY knob, adjust the beam to crossover. Center the beam using the SHIFT X/Y
knobs.
Press the STIG button, on the right-hand instrument panel, to open the STIGMATOR CONTROL
page.
Press the COND key on the data monitor screen to select the Condensor lens astigmatism
correction. Use the MULTIFUNCTION X/Y knobs, while rotating the beam through crossover
using the INTENSITY knob, to obtain a round beam that pulls concentrically when going through
crossover.
Press the STIG button to return to the CONFIGURATION page.

4. Eucentric Height Adjustment

Set the MAGNIFICATION to around 5,800x and use the X/Y JOYSTICK to center a small
notable feature of your specimen.
Focus your chosen feature using the Focus knob. The larger knob changes the focus; the inner
small knob (the step size adjustment) modifies the amount of focus change per 'click' of the outer
knob.
From the TEM BRIGHTFIELD page, press COMPUSTAGE once; the COMPUSTAGE
REGISTER CONTROL page will appear.
Press A-WOBBLER; this will initiate back-and-forth alpha tilting of the goniometer.
Use the Z control(small) lever on the JOYSTICK to move the specimen up or down and to
minimize apparent lateral movement of the centered feature.
When the feature moves only minimally or not at all, press the A-WOBBLER key to inactivate
tilting; then press the READY button to return to TEM BRIGHTFIELD.

5. Pivot Point Alignment

Ensure that the specimen is eucentric before performing this procedure.
Center (X/Y JOYSTICK) and focus (concentric knobs under STEP SIZE) an image feature at
around 50kx (MAG knob). Press the ALGN button to access the ALIGNMENT SELECTION
page. Using the INTENSITY knob, adjust the beam to crossover. Press the beamcoils PIVOT
POINT X key, on the right side of the page, so that it is highlighted. Using the
MULTIFUNCTION X/Y knobs, bring the two beam spots (the pivot points, on the fluorescent
viewing screen) together so that they overlap. Center the coinciding spots using the Beam SHIFT
X/Y knobs. Press the beamcoils PIVOT POINT Y and perform the same alignment. Center the
coinciding spots using the SHIFT X/Y knobs. Press the ALGN button to exit the ALIGNMENT
SELECTION page.

6. Rotation Center Alignment

Focus and center a feature of the specimen at around 100kx. Press ALGN to open the
ALIGNMENT SELECTION page. On the upper right-hand side of the page, press ROT
CENTER so that it becomes highlighted.

Current centering:

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(i) On the lower right-hand side of the page, select CURR (under rot center VOLT CURR) so that it
becomes highlighted. This will cause the objective lens current to modulate (the inner STEP SIZE
knob adjusts the amplitude of modulation). If the chosen feature shifts off center laterally, the
beam is not aligned along the optical axis of the microscope and must be corrected.
(ii) Use the MULTIFUNCTION X/Y knobs to stabilize the feature at the center of the screen,
eliminating all lateral movement. The feature should appear to be pulsating.
(iii) Press the ALGN button to return to the TEM BRIGHTFIELD page.

7. Centering the Objective Lens Aperture

For this procedure a specimen must be in place. Choose an area for which it is acceptable to
sustain beam damage.
Focus the specimen and spread beam out to the size of large screen.
Press “D” button to go to Diffraction Mode
Adjust the CAMERA LENGTH to 620 mm using the MAG knob.
Center the diffraction spot using the MULTIFUNCTION X/Y knobs.
Using the “Intensity” knob, focus the bright central beam to its smallest and round spot.
Insert the OBJECTIVE APERTURE (OBJ on column) by rotating the large outer knob with pin
pointing to desired size. There are 2 rows of 4 apertures in positions 1 to 4.
(100,60,40,20um)(70,50,30,10um) which can be positioned using the side knob. Position 5 to 7
are used to remove the aperture from the beam path..
Focus the shadow of the aperture to a sharp outline using the Focus knob.
Once the aperture has been selected, center it using both the middle knurled knob on the front of
the mechanism and the small knob on the right side of the mechanism.
*Do Not turn the smallest knob on the front of the mechanism as this removes the aperture rod
from the vacuum system.
Press “D” button to exit diffraction mode.

8. Objective Lens Astigmatism Correction

Using the Camera FFT to correct image astigmatism-While having a live view image on
the CCD, goto the “Process” tab and select “Live”, then ”FFT”. Under focus the image (Counter
Clockwise turn of the Focus knob) to get a few rings in the fft.
Press the STIG button to open the STIGMATOR CONTROL page. If it is not already
highlighted, press the OBJ key on this page.
Adjust the shape of the fft so that the rings are round using the objective stigmator with the Multi
Function X and Y knobs.

OR
Select an area that may be imaged at high magnification without harming any desirable
portions of the specimen. Increase the magnification to 175,000x or higher and adjust the
illumination so that the background grain of the specimen may be easily seen in the CCD image
or looking through the binoculars at the small focusing screen on column. The INTENSITY will
have to be adjusted and the beam will have to be centered using the SHIFT X/Y knobs as the
magnification is increased.

Use the MULTIFUNCTION X/Y knobs, one at a time, to obtain the sharpest possible image of
the grain substructure. Repeat fine focusing and then correcting objective stigmatism.
Confirm that any astigmatism has been corrected by varying the focus (back and forth through
focus, from underfocus to overfocus) and watching that grains are not visible at focus but are seen
when under and over focus.
Press the STIG button again to return to the TEM BRIGHTFIELD page.

9. Acquiring and Saving Images

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 Log onto computer - User name: CM200 Password: CM200
Open “Gatan Digital Micrograph” on desk top
Lift main Phosphur viewing screen with handle on left side of chamber
In the “Camera View” window of Digital Micrograph, select “Start View”. Select “Yes” to insert
camera.
Create a folder in the C:/Images location and save your images in DM4 format. In Digital Micrograph
you use the “Batch Convert”,which is found in the“File” tab to save the images to another format, ie:
tiff or jpeg.

10. Finishing up your session:

Close Column Valve:

Remove the holder from the scope, take your sample out of the holder and re-insert the holder back
into the stage.
CRYO-CYCLE:
Remove the LN2 dewar from the anticominator. Goto the vacuum page and select the
cryo function. Set the time for 2 hours and select “start”.
11. Fill out info in log book and log out of the computer in the hall.

Emergency Information:

Medical Emergencies: Contact 911 and Public Safety (609) 258-1000

Room / facility emergencies: Contact Public Safety (609) 258-1000
Issues related to the instrument:
1. Contact IAC Staff.
2. Leave system as is, Do Not disable vacuum system.
3. Try to shut off the High Tension/Close Vacuum valve.
Audible/Siren Emergency Alerts:
Follow previous steps 2 & 3 and leave the building.

Emergency Contact Information:

Nan Yao: Office (609)258-6394; Cell (908) 922-2236 Email: [email protected]
John Schreiber: Office (609)258-0034; Cell (215) 431-4670 Email: [email protected]
Paul Shao: Office (609)258-3851; Cell (847) 721-086 Email: [email protected]