Environmental TEM for Performing Chemical Research at the Atomic Level

FEI Company, a leading provider of high-resolution imaging and analysis systems, today announced the release of the Titan™ 80-300 environmental transmission electron microscope (ETEM). The Titan ETEM is the premier solution for chemical research at the atomic scale, and is a significant advance for studying materials and processes of importance in the fields of energy and environment. The ETEM is the newest member of FEI’s Titan TEM family, the world’s most powerful commercially-available microscopes for direct observation with sub-Ångstrom resolution.

“The ETEM lets us look directly at the fundamental, atomic scale mechanisms of our catalytic processes,” said Dr. Alfons M. Molenbroek, head of the Characterization Department, R&D Division, Haldor Topsoe, of Lyngby, Denmark, one of the world’s leading suppliers of heterogeneous catalysts and catalytic processes, and an early adopter of ETEM technology for industrial research. “Heterogeneous catalysts are typically solid particles that catalyze reactions between gas or liquid phase reactants. Conventional TEM can give us high-resolution images of the particles in a vacuum, but only ETEM lets us look at the catalytic process itself, with the particle immersed in a gaseous environment. We expect to achieve dramatic advances in our fundamental understanding of our core catalyst technologies.”

The Titan ETEM’s ability to image the sample in a controlled gaseous environment allows scientists to investigate the fundamental atomic mechanisms of gas-solid reactions, such as carbon nanotube growth, crystal nucleation and growth, heterogeneous catalysis and many other economically-significant processes. Catalysts, for instance, are important in production of fuels, reduction of environmentally-harmful combustion products, and generally throughout the chemical industry for applications concerning energy and the environment.

FEI’s Dominique Hubert, vice president and general manager, Research Division, adds, “The Titan is the first and only ETEM solution for studying nanoscale processes with atomic detail in a spherical aberration-corrected S/TEM. Users may be chemists, concerned with the reaction itself; materials scientists, interested in the effects of a gaseous environment; or they may be involved in a myriad other disciplines. The world looks to FEI as the technological leader across the board in electron microscope technologies that enable groundbreaking discoveries. The new Titan ETEM is just one example of FEI’s ongoing commitment to deliver on this promise, and to connect to societal problem-driven research: harnessing materials for energy and sustainability.”

At the core of Titan ETEM’s capabilities is its ability to deliver high-resolution imaging with gas pressures in the sample chamber as high as a few percent of atmospheric pressure. Conventional TEMs require high-vacuum conditions with pressure levels a thousand to a million times lower. A gas controller permits precise control of composition as well as pressure. Heating and cooling holders provide control over a range of temperatures. The ability to select electron beam voltages anywhere between 80 and 300 kilovolts (kV) accommodates a wide range of material and imaging conditions. As a member of the Titan family, the Titan ETEM benefits from all of the extraordinary technological developments that have made it the world’s most powerful TEM, and the first choice of premier researchers and institutions.

The Titan ETEM is available for purchase now and shipments begin in Q1 2009. Initial shipments have already taken place with select customers.