Category: Hitachi S-4700 FE-SEM

Hi FESEM users,

The Hitachi service engineer did the year’s maintenance on the FESEM this past Monday and Tuesday 5/20 and 5/21.

1) He fixed the spring on the stage where we slid the specimen mount in. It was loose and that was causing some vibration. We should not see less jiggling images at higher magnification.

2) He did the full column alignment. From now on, use the software only when you do the alignments. Do not change the physical knobs of the apertures.

3) The beam monitor aperture is set at position 2, and should be kept at 2 !!!

4) If you ever need to change the objective aperture, only use the knob to switch between apertures 1, 3, or 4. Do not use aperture 2.

Objective aperture sizes: 1 > 3 = 2 > 4

Attn.: Objective apertures 2 and 3 have the same size. We exchange them annually when one or the other gets dirty. This year we are using 3.

Remember: Home stage position is: X=Y=Z=12.5 mm, Tilt = 0, Rotation = 0

Please, let me know if you still experience any problems.

Erico Freitas

The image quality is poor for images about 30k in mag. It appears as though one of the lenses is wobbling. We have spoken with Hitachi and they will be coming to campus on Monday. 

Good news is the new Apreo FESEM installation is underway. We hope to have the instrument available for use by the end of the semester.

February 12, 2024

Update on the FESEM, 

• The microscope now has a clean version of the operating system.
• This week, MTU IT will be setting up a system to allow for retrieval of the data.

As of today, do NOT put any USB into the FESEM.

February 5, 2024

Just an update. Unfortunately the FESEM is still down. We need to rebuild the hard drive for this computer. HITACHI will be on campus this week to resolve the issue. 

January 26, 2024

All FESEM users need to be aware that there was a virus on the FESM that had been transmitted by the USB drive. HITACHI was on campus this week and confirmed the infection. We are working to get a clean harddrive in the instrument. Until then the FESEM will be unavailable.

Additionally, anyone who has used the USB to transfer files may have malware on their USB and computer. Please work with MTU IT if you have any concerns.

Once the FESEM is back online we will be establishing a new protocol for transferring files. More information will be available soon.

From Erico Freitas:

The FESEM EDS system has been repaired and is available for use.

My apologies for the delay in repairing this detector. The original manufacturer has gone out of business so we have to work with a third party company which has limited availability.

The FESEM is available for imaging, but the EDS system is not currently working.

I’m happy to report the FESEM is back online. The repairs were completed this morning and the instrument can be reserved as soon as this afternoon.

July 14, 2023, 11:14 a.m.

Unfortunately the service engineer couldn’t complete the repairs this week and will be returning next week.

July 12, 2023, 2:35 p.m.

Hitachi will be on site tomorrow to repair the issue. We hope to have the FESEM back online soon.

July 12, 2023, 10:50 a.m.

The FESEM has a vacuum issue and won’t be available for use until we can repair this. I have calls out to our service engineers and hope to know more soon.