WITec, Germany, announces that its solution for correlative Raman-SEM imaging is now available for the Zeiss Sigma 300, a field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). With this jointly-developed system, WITec and Zeiss have furthered their collaboration to provide a fully-integrated instrument available as an OEM product through Zeiss. It features a standard, unmodified vacuum chamber and SEM column, along with a complete confocal Raman microscope and spectrometer. It expands the range of choices available to the researcher and incorporates generations of experience in Raman spectroscopic imaging and advanced structural analysis.
RISE stands for Raman Imaging and Scanning Electron microscopy. The seamless combination of the two techniques offers a distinct advantage when investigating samples, it improves ease-of-use, and it accelerates experimental workflow.
The research-grade optical microscope capability integral to every WITec microscope also helps researchers survey their sample and quickly locate areas of interest. Both the objective and sample stage required for Raman microscopy are placed within the SEM’s vacuum chamber and can therefore remain under vacuum for all measurements; the sample is simply transferred between the Raman and SEM measuring positions using the stage of ZEISS Sigma 300.
The configuration allows the Raman microscope to be attached through a standard port of the SEM. The correlation of data and control of Raman measurements are carried out through WITec’s Suite FIVE software, which features a new operating concept with an intuitive interface, automated components and sophisticated software and data analysis routines.
According to Dr. Olaf Hollricher, Co-founder and Director of R&D at WITec, “Our Raman technology can visualize the distribution of chemical species within a sample, and do it quickly. Combine that with the structural resolution of SEM and you get a properly comprehensive understanding of a sample. It’s a powerful instrument that’s intuitive as well.”
Zeiss Sigma 300 provides exceptional resolution, contrast, and brightness at a price point accessible to most laboratories and working groups. With its Gemini electron optics, including an Inlens secondary electron detector tailored for high-resolution surface-sensitive imaging, the instrument is inherently flexible and precise. FE-SEMs enable structural characterization of particles, surfaces, and nanostructures, and the Zeiss Sigma series four-step automated workflow allows for increased productivity.
