Capabilities include:

• User-switchable accelerating voltages from 20–120 keV.
• A high-speed camera (40 fps at 4k x 4k) optimized for imaging at low keV.
• Room temperature and cryogenic electron tomography (cryo-ET) with a tilt range of +/– 70^o.
• Cryogenically cooled "cryo-box," gives greater stability when imaging cryogenically frozen samples.
• Vitrobot for rapid and reproducible sample vitrification.

• Focused ion beam milling capability (SEM/FIB) optimized for the imaging, sectioning, and TEM lamellae preparation of soft matter and beam sensitive materials.
• A specialized in-column T3 detector optimized for low-kV, low energy secondary electron detection.
• A dedicated cryo-cooled SEM stage from Leica Microsystems provides the capability to section and image frozen samples, yielding information on internal microstructure.
• Cryogenic lift-out can be performed on milled samples and transferred to the Talos L120C, covering a wide range of length scales in the characterization of frozen, hydrated samples.

Leica Cryogenic Transfer Equipment

• The Leica cryo-workflow is specially designed to allow sample preparation and transfer while maintaining a frozen state and includes a shuttle (VCT-500), sample transfer workstation (VCM), and sputter coater/freeze fracture unit (ACE-600).
• Transfer from Ar glove box to cryo-FIB via VCT-500 for reactive materials (Li, Na etc.)

Leica THUNDER Cryo-CLEM

• Precisely identify cellular structures of interest thanks to high resolution, haze-free optical imaging.
• Transfer to the cryo-FIB and correlate with SEM using MAPS software to precisely identify milling locations.

Contact: John Watt

Research Highlight:
A Sodium-Antimony-Telluride Intermetallic Allows Sodium-Metal Cycling at 100% Depth of Discharge and as an Anode-Free Metal Battery
Wang, Y.; Dong, H.; Katyal, N.; Hao, H.; Liu, P.; Celio, H.; Henkelman, G.; Watt, J.; Mitlin, D. A. Adv. Mater. 2022, 34 (1), e2106005. doi.org/10.1002/adma.202106005