Ionenstrahlätzsystem EM TIC 3X (Leica)

With the Leica EM TIC 3X ion beam etching system, flat surfaces and cross-sections of samples of any material can be produced for electron or light microscopy at room temperature. Under high vacuum, ablation speeds of up to 300 µm/h are achieved with three intersecting ion beams. The ions can be generated with energies between 1 keV and 10 keV.

The artifacts of mechanical sample preparation can be removed from polished samples by ion polishing (flat-milling) and precisely positioned cross-sections and high-quality surfaces can be produced from rough samples. Furthermore, low energy processing can be used to increase the contrast of the surface topography of polished samples.

Samples up to a size of 50 x 50 x 10 mm or a diameter of 38 mm can be processed.