UniMill

The UniMill has been designed for extremely rapid preparation of high-quality TEM/XTEM samples with unsurpassed high thinning rate. The design of the instrument enables both rapid milling with the ultra-high-energy noble gas ion source and final polishing and cleaning with the patented low-energy ion gun.

Key features

• Easy to use and automated operation
• Widest energy range on the market (100 eV- 16 keV)
• Load-lock system for fast sample exchange
• LN2 or Peltier cooling option
• Online monitoring and support

STATE-OF-THE-ART ION SOURCES

The UniMill includes two independently controlled ion sources: one high- or ultra high-energy ion gun and one low-energy ion gun.
High- and ultra-high-energy ion sources: Technoorg’s high- and ultra-high energy ion sources provide the highest milling rate in the market. The ion gun operating up to 16 keV is especially designed for TEM sample preparation for materials of very low milling rate.
Low-energy ion source: The exceptional construction of the ion source allows to reach high beam current densities in the whole operating range. The beam of extremely low energy noble gas ions guarantees minimization of surface damage and ion beam induced amorphization.
Ion source control: All ion gun parameters including accelerating voltage and beam current are controlled automatically by a digital feedback loop, but they can always be changed manually during the sample preparation process. The initial values of the ion source parameters are set either automatically or manually and are continuously monitored and displayed by the computer.

AUTOMATED OPERATION

The UniMill model of Technoorg ion mills is provided with full computer control utilizing an easy-to-use graphical interface. All milling parameters including the electrode voltages, working gas flow, sample motion/tilt and further parameters of process timing and perforation detection can be stored or pre-programmed in arbitrary number of steps. This fully automated feature of the UniMill allows to produce high quality samples with minimum user intervention.

APPLICATIONS

The UniMill is recommended to users developing new materials or new sample preparation methods and due to its extreme milling rate it is also recommended for studying materials of very low sputtering rate, such as diamond, sapphire, etc. Its exclusive capability of producing damage- and artifact-free samples by low-energy ion bombardment that provides unique opportunity to study real nanostructures in synthesized and natural materials in all fields of technical sciences and materials research.

OPTIONAL LIQUID NITROGEN COOLING

This feature reduces excessive sample heating during the ion bombardment. Thus, heat-sensitive materials can be prepared without destabilization of internal structures.

ON-LINE MONITORING AND SUPPORT

The UniMill is supplied with a software extension for on-line technical support, which enables instant error detection and problem elimination via the Internet.