Authorized Materials

Summary of material constraints

Lab members wishing to introduce new materials into this system must first obtain authorization from staff. New material requests must be initiated by submitting a Process Review Request form.

Non compliance will result in loss of member privileges

PROHIBITED Materials

  1. Any sample that will outgas under vacuum (check with staff if uncertain). This includes but is not limited to samples containing elemental sulphur or phosphorus.
  2. Samples containing any degree of moisture, including soft plastic or hydrogels
  3. Magnetic nanoparticles (or any magnetic sample not physically secured to a TEM grid).

  4. No outside or specialized custom sample holders (i.e. Protochips, liquid cells etc.) without specific authorization and consultation with staff.

Non-recommended Materials

  1. Biological samples
    1. Biological materials degrade rapidly under beam exposure, so a lower acceleration voltage (e.g. 120 kV) is recommended. Our TEM operates at 200 kV, requiring careful dose management to minimize damage.

Authorized Substrates & Thin Films

  • Polymer films: All photo/e-beam resists, conditional on them being fully baked/cured based on manufacturers instructions.
  • CNTs, graphene
  • Silicon
  • III-V's
  • ZnSe
  • Ag
  • Al
  • Al2O3
  • Au
  • Bi2Te3
  • Cr
  • Cu
  • EuS
  • Ge
  • HfO2
  • ITO
  • Nb
  • Ni
  • Pd
  • Pt
  • SiNx
  • SiO2
  • Ti
  • TiO2
  • TiW
  • W

NOTE:

  1. If any other materials are present on your samples, CONTACT STAFF BEFORE PROCEEDING.
  2. All samples require approval (via metrology or process review request). If only the sample process/preparation has changed, no additional approval is needed. Unapproved samples accidentally introduced in the TEM must still be reported to Nicki (nashaw@uwaterloo.ca).