HILLSBORO, Ore., May 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Thermo Fisher
Scientific today released the Thermo Scientific Helios 5 Laser PFIB
system, an advanced focused ion beam scanning electron microscope
(FIB-SEM) with a fully integrated femtosecond laser that quickly
characterizes millimeter-scale volumes of material in 3D with
nanometer resolution.
The Helios 5 Laser PFIB combines the best-in-class Thermo
Scientific Elstar SEM Column for ultra-high-resolution imaging and
advanced analytical capabilities with a plasma FIB column for top
performance at all operating conditions, and a femtosecond laser
that enables in-situ ablation at material removal rates not
previously obtained by a commercially available product. The Helios
5 Laser PFIB is part of the fifth generation of the
industry-leading Helios family.
"The Helios 5 Laser PFIB dramatically accelerates the pace of
research for both academic and industrial users, allowing them to
characterize materials in a matter of minutes versus the days it
took before," said Rosy Lee, vice
president of materials science at Thermo Fisher. "Not only can
researchers quickly and accurately image statistically relevant,
site-specific, millimeter-size cross-sections at nanoscale
resolution, they can also set up large-volume 3D analyses to be
automatically completed overnight, freeing up the microscope for
other uses."
The Helios 5 Laser PFIB allows researchers to obtain accurate
large-volume 3D and sub-surface data up to 15,000 times faster than
a typical Gallium ion source focused ion beam (Ga-FIB). For many
materials, a large cross-section of hundreds of microns can be
milled by the Helios 5 Laser PFIB in less than 5 minutes.
Serial-section tomography is now possible with this combination of
Laser and Plasma FIB, and when combined with EDS and EBSD
detectors, can be extended to 3D elemental and grain orientation
analysis at the millimeter scale.
After close collaboration over several years with McLean Echlin and Tresa
Pollock at UC Santa Barbara, the first commercially
available units were shipped to The National Institute for
Materials Science (NIMS) in Japan
and The University of Manchester
in Manchester, England, where both
organizations are already seeing benefits.
"The system not only performs high-resolution SEM for
microstructural analysis but also enables large-volume 3D imaging
previously not possible. This should help to greatly advance our
understanding of inhomogeneity and deformation mechanisms in
materials," said Dr. Toru Hara, Station Director, Structural
Materials Analysis Station, National Institute for Materials
Science (NIMS), Japan.
"At Royce, we're aiming to establish a characterization
capability needed to drive forward the microstructural informatics
revolution needed for the design of new materials and better
understanding of existing ones," said Regius Prof. Phil Withers, Chief Scientist at the Henry Royce
Institute for advanced materials research and innovation. "The
Helios 5 Laser PFIB is capable of excising millimeter-sized regions
of interest and collecting the massive 3D microstructural datasets
at SEM resolutions this requires."
According to Dr. Tim Burnett,
from The University of Manchester,
"I am particularly excited about how this solution extends our
ability to conduct correlative workflows and allows us to connect
together different analysis techniques. We will be able to reach
deeply buried features and interfaces, as well as machine and
extract multiple minute test specimens from targeted locations in
times not previously achieved by our research team."
The Helios 5 Laser PFIB makes it easy for academic and
industrial labs to process challenging non-conductive,
air-sensitive and beam-sensitive materials. They can also expedite
failure analysis while obtaining fast access to buried sub-surface
layers often inaccessible with traditional FIB. The FIB-SEM can be
used to analyze a variety of materials including metals, batteries,
glass, ceramics, paint coatings, polymers, biomaterials and
graphite.
Built on the Thermo Scientific Helios 5 platform, the Helios 5
Laser PFIB redefines the standard in high-resolution imaging with
high materials contrast; fast, easy and precise high-quality sample
preparation for scanning transmission electron microscopy
(S/TEM) and Atom Probe Tomography (APT).
To learn more about the Helios 5 Laser PFIB, visit:
https://ter.li/HeliosLaserPFIB.
About Thermo Fisher Scientific
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE: TMO) is the world leader in
serving science, with annual revenue exceeding $25 billion. Our Mission is to enable our
customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. Whether
our customers are accelerating life sciences research, solving
complex analytical challenges, improving patient diagnostics and
therapies or increasing productivity in their laboratories, we are
here to support them. Our global team of more than 75,000
colleagues delivers an unrivaled combination of innovative
technologies, purchasing convenience and pharmaceutical services
through our industry-leading brands, including Thermo Scientific,
Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Fisher Scientific, Unity Lab
Services and Patheon. For more information, please visit
www.thermofisher.com.
Media Contact Information:
Kathy Gill
Thermo Fisher Scientific
+1 971-294-9262
kathy.gill@thermofisher.com
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SOURCE Thermo Fisher Scientific