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The Standard Sample Holder for the Phenom XL Desktop SEM is the compact stage allowing analysis of samples of up to 100 mm x 100 mm. In spite of this much larger sample size, a proprietary loading shuttle keeps the vent/load cycle to a minimum, which in practice enables a throughput that is a few factors higher than any comparable SEM system.
Embedding, cutting and polishing are common techniques used to create flat samples for microscopic investigation. Typically these samples are embedded in a resin and can have a few standard size diameters.
The Standard Sample Holder for the Phenom XL can be extended with 3 types of resin or metallurgical mount inserts. This means that the sample holder can accommodate the most common sized resin mount samples.
Sample size
The resin mount inserts offer a few specific advantages. Sample clamping is very straight forward and all samples will have the same working distance which is very useful when performing X-ray (EDS) analysis.
Resin mount samples have a perfectly prepared flat top surface which is a requirement for quantitative EDS results. However the bottom surface can be very rough or even skewed. Mounting these samples without the insert can often result in the top surface not being leveled which can have a negative effect on the EDS quantification results.
By using the inserts the resin sample bottom will not touch the surface of the sample holder. The top side of the resin samples will be perfectly clamped at the same height inside the insert which enables both high resolution imaging and EDS analysis at the same time.
The Resin Mount Sample Insert is available in 3 models for supporting standard sized samples of 25mm (~1 inch), 32mm (~1 ¼ inch) and 40mm (~1 ½ inch) diameter. An allen key for clamping the samples is standard included.
Specifications
There are 3 type of resin mount inserts available depending on sample size requirement:
For clamping 4x 40mm (1 ½”) diameter resin mounts
For clamping 6x 32mm (1 ¼”) diameter resin mounts
For clamping 9x 25mm (1 ”) diameter resin mounts