Quorum Coating System Installed at University of Southampton

The University of Southampton’s Biomedical Imaging Unit is using Quorum Technology Inc.’s Q150T ES combined sputter coating and carbon coating system as a general purpose workstation.

The Quorum Q150T ES coater was purchased to replace an Edwards coating unit from the 1960s. It is being used as a general purpose workstation for carbon coating, sputter coating for high-resolution scanning electron microscopy, glow discharging grids and cleaning apertures, among other applications.

A transmission electron micrograph of immuno-gold labelled amyloid beta fibrils (r). Courtesy of The University of Southampton.

“We looked at various competitive systems, but these did not fit our needs nor matched our price constraints,” said Anton Page, head of the Biomedical Imaging Unit. “The new coater is ideal. It is a combined system providing both sputtering and carbon coating. The deposition heads can be swapped in seconds and the intelligent system logic automatically recognizes which head is in place and displays the appropriate operating settings.”

The Biomedical Imaging Unit is a core facility that provides a diagnostic and research service in high-quality and high-resolution microscopy. The microscopes at the facility are used extensively for research, teaching and diagnostic work by staff and students of many disciplines, including medicine, physics, the National Oceanographic Center, engineering and biological sciences.