8500 FE-SEM System

The Advent of the Keysight 8500 

Keysight Technologies, Inc. innovative 8500 system is the world’s first compact field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) designed specifically to allow you to perform low-voltage, high-resolution imaging in your own lab! The extraordinary Keysight 8500 FE-SEM achieves the extremely high surface contrast and resolution typically found only in much larger and more expensive field emission microscopes. This scientific grade system, which offers several imaging techniques for enhancing surface contrast, is able to resolve details for samples up to 100 x 60mm on a variety of nanostructured materials, including polymers, thin films, biomaterials, and other energy-sensitive samples — on any substrate, even glass. No dedicated facilities are required, just an AC power outlet! About the size of an average laser printer, the easy-to-install Keysight 8500 FE-SEM provides true plug-and-play convenience. For ultimate ease of use, a programmable X-Y-Z stage allows you to set precise coordinates, scan, and save locations. 

The Low-Voltage Advantage 

Traditional SEMs operate at beam voltages that present many issues when used to image certain types of materials, including both nonconductive organic samples (e.g., polymers, enzymes, cells, membranes) and nonconductive inorganic samples (e.g., ceramics, pigments, minerals, composites). Uncoated nonconductive samples are challenging in a traditional SEM due to charge buildup that distorts the images — or prevents any imaging at all. Soft samples can be damaged or destroyed as a result of the high energy dose. Typically, the solution is to coat these nonconductive specimens with a thin conductive layer (carbon, gold or others), but this coating often masks the nanoscale features that are of interest. In low voltage imaging, the beam/specimen interaction volume is significantly smaller than that in high voltage imaging. Thus low voltage microscopy is truly a surface imaging technique which is able to reveal the true surface morphology. Another advantage of low voltage microscopy is that it can eliminate the need to coat insulating samples. Because of the high secondary electron yield at low voltages, a neutral status can be achieved on the specimen surface for a stable imaging. Additionally, electron beam damage can be reduced or localized in low voltage microscopy. 

Technology Optimized for Your Lab 

The remarkably compact Keysight 8500 FE-SEM utilizes a unique micro-machined miniature electron beam column with all-electrostatic lens to deliver unprecedented performance. The 8500 system’s thermal field emission electron source provides high brightness, high stability, small virtual source size, and low energy spread. Its unique beam design is capable of achieving sub-10nm resolution at 1 kV. The innovative all-electrostatic lens design eliminates any hysteresis effect and ensures repeatable performance without constant re-tuning. In addition the system’s imaging voltage is continuously variable from 500 V to 2 kV. Surface morphologies are revealed using the 8500 FE-SEM system’s multiple imaging modes, which include secondary electron imaging, backscattered electron imaging, and topographic imaging. A four-segment microchannel plate (MCP) detector that provides topographic imaging along two orthogonal directions further enhances the surface detail. The versatile imaging system eliminates the concerns of charging on nonconductive samples as well as the necessity to coat such samples. It also eliminates the need to resort to increased-pressure operation (i.e., the use of so-called “variable pressure” modes), which degrades resolution and prevents secondary electron imaging modes. 

Limitless Applications! 

The innovative, award-winning* technology utilized by the low-voltage Keysight 8500 FE-SEM excels at the formation of high-resolution, high-contrast images of surfaces in structures where the volumes of interest approach nanometer dimensions. The surface specificity of low-voltage scanning electron microscopy coupled with the high resolution and brightness of a field-emission electron source offer a radically different view of sample surface detail on a broad range of differing materials. 

Polymers 

The low-voltage Keysight 8500 FE-SEM provides a straightforward technique for high-resolution imaging of polymers, typically without the need for a metal coating. Although the application range of polymers spans many levels of sophistication in materials and processing, the morphological features of interest can easily be investigated with the 8500 system. 

Biological/Organic Samples 

Using the low-voltage Keysight 8500 FE-SEM, it is possible to image fixed biological samples with high resolution and excellent contrast, typically without the need for a metal coating and without incurring beam damage to the samples. Despite the fact that biological samples encompass a vast range of size scales, composition, and structures, the morphological features of interest can easily be explored with the 8500 system. 

Graphene Films/Carbon Nanotubes 

The Keysight 8500 FE-SEM meets all the requirements needed to investigate graphene: high spatial resolution, low beam energy, high-contrast imaging, and a high-performance detector. Images acquired with the 8500 system reveal nano-sized surface details on graphene films with enhanced contrast. The 8500 offers a fast, non-invasive, and effective approach for graphene multilayer domain identification and film defect detection. Additionally, it enables high-resolution imaging of carbon nanotubes and carbon nanotube composites, typically without the need for a metal coating.