HILLSBORO, Ore., Oct. 19, 2007 -- FEI Co. has added a new instrument, the Titan³ 80-300, to its Titan line of ultrahigh resolution transmission electron microscopes (TEMs).

Titan³ (Titan "cubed") enhances the capabilities of and costs less than FEI’s Titan S/TEM, introduced in 2005, but provides the same sub-Ångström imaging capabilities (the width of an average strand of human hair ranges from 500,000 to one million Angstroms).

The ultrahigh-resolution performance of the new system is achieved with a design that allows, for the first time, the combination of two Cs-abberation correctors and a monochromator on a single instrument. An innovative enclosed profile reduces environmental interference, increasing its stability and eliminating the need for expensive lab improvements.

Hamish Fraser, director of the Center for the Accelerated Maturation of Materials at Ohio State University and a beta user of the Titan³, “The use of our Titan³ often involves numbers of students and post-doctoral fellows excitedly grouped around the console. Their often-loud talking and movements in the vicinity of the enclosed microscope appear to have no effect on the quality of the data produced. Our microscope is situated in a room that is of reasonable quality in an old building, but the addition of the “box” provides excellent insulation and raises the quality of the system’s operating environment to superb.”

The new Titan system is targeted to industrial, institutional and academic researchers who need to characterize the atomic-scale structure, chemistry and dynamics of individual nanostructures. With its aberration-free vision, scientists can study how atoms combine to form materials, how materials grow and how they respond to a variety of external factors. 

The monochromator complements these capabilities by providing additional information about bonding states of atoms and about electronic properties on the nanoscale. These are the most basic parameters that science needs to understand to improve materials properties and to obtain a deeper understanding of the macroscopic behavior of nanotechnology devices, FEI said. Such data can aid in the improvement of designs for everything from better, lighter, more efficient light sources, automobiles and airliners, to stronger buildings and new ways of harvesting energy.

The Titan³ features a new, fully digital remote-control interface that makes it easier to use and changes how users interface with the instrument, enabling users to operate it remotely and in ambient conditions and a wide variety of applications. "No longer will system operators have to work in dark, remote labs," FEI said.

It can be operated in the 80 to 300 kV range for optimized imaging of materials such as ultralight carbon compounds or ultradense heavy metal samples. The modular design of the Titan column also offers more flexibility when purchasing the Titan³. Base systems can be retrofitted in the field with probe Cs- and image Cs-correctors.

For more information, visit: www.fei.com; e-mail: sales@fei.com

FEI Co.
5350 NE Dawson Creek Dr.
Hillsboro, OR 97124-5793
Phone: (503) 726-7500
Fax: (503) 726-7509

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