Category: Hitachi S-4700 FE-SEM

The repairs to the Field Emission SEM are complete.

The FESEM is down due to a computer issue. The new computer will be here tomorrow and I should be able to get the microscope back online then.

FESEM users: During the recent Hitachi service the engineer tightened up the stage.  There is more friction now when you push the holder onto the stage.  Just push past the friction until the holder stops.  You can clearly see that in the chamber camera.  Let me know if you want me to show you what to do.

2:13 p.m. The FESEM is back online and ready for use. If you have any trouble call me.

12:53 p.m. There is a problem with the cooling system so I had to shut the FESEM down. MTU Facilities is working on the chiller. I’ll keep you posted as the repair is made.

A persistent complaint about the FESEM EDS system was that it was hard to get enough counts (deadtime) for optimal work. To address this we upgraded the detecting crystal in the EDS detector. Now the crystal is 30 mm² – it was 10 mm². Now, for the same beam current, there are additional counts (deadtime). You can get 25-30% deadtime at 20kV with the condenser lens set to 5.

I have the system calibrated and you are free to use the upgraded EDS system.

Let me know if you have questions.

The service engineer replaced the objective aperture and did a bake treatment on the electron gun. He realigned the scope at 1, 5, 10 and 20kV. The resolution is really good now.

I’m taking the FESEM EDS detector to be serviced Thursday so I’m taking it off today. I’ll update you on the status.

We are going to bake the gun chamber overnight, so the microscope cannot be used. It should be up and running tomorrow morning by 10 am.

The field service engineer will install a new objective aperture in the FESEM this morning. The scope should be back online after lunch.