FEI Announces Nova NanoSEM 50 Series at M & M 2010

FEI Company showed today here in Portland its new Nova NanoSEM 50 Series of ultra-high resolution scanning electron microscopes (UHR SEMs). It is designed to provide nanometer-scale resolution and ultra-precise analysis on the widest range of samples.

“This newest generation of the well-established Nova NanoSEM offers a unique combination of capabilities" said George Scholes, FEI’s Research Division vice president and general manager. “In one instrument, you get imaging down to the nanometer level, high beam current for fast and precise analysis, and low vacuum capability to extend the range of sample types and minimize preparation requirements. Customers no longer have to choose between ultra-high resolution (at high and low kV) and analytical performance.”

In low vacuum, the Nova NanoSEM can examine highly insulating samples, up to nearly the same resolution that can be achieved in high vacuum, with little or no preparation, eliminating artifacts and saving time. The Nova NanoSEM 50 Series builds on the success of previous Nova NanoSEM instruments, and adds technological innovations from FEI’s other industry-leading product families: It inherits its proven beam deceleration and low vacuum capabilities (including the Helix detector for unequalled high-contrast, low-noise imaging) from previous-generation Nova NanoSEMs.

Its integrated sample & chamber cleaning solutions, critical for low kV high-resolution imaging, and its advanced and intuitive sample navigation and user interface, debuted on the Quanta and Magellan SEMs. And its universal large chamber, 16-bit scan engine and latest scanning strategies, as well as the high-precision stage, were first deployed in the Nova and Helios™ NanoLab DualBeam™ systems.
The Nova NanoSEM 50 Series introduces a new suite of detectors, retractable and in-lens, for optimized secondary electron (SE), backscattered electron (BSE), and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) signal collection and filtering.