Sample treatment: Metalización (Sputtering)

Deposit of a conductive film for sample observation and analysis in the SEM. This process can be done by thermal evaporation and sputtering depending on the study to be performed and the signal utilized
Available equipment in the laboratory for this purpose:
Jeol JEE4B, thermal evaporator for carbon and any metal
Au sputtering SPI

In a conventional SEM, at high vacuum, the non conductive samples need to be coated by a metal thin layer. Hence, the Electron Microscopy Service at the ICM has a sputter coater (Polaron SC500) that allows to perform this step using Au or Au-Pd. This technique provides a uniform coating and complete surface coverage even in rough surfaces.
An accessory (Polaron CA508) allows to coat samples by high vacuum evaporation using carbon. This technique is appropriate for coating samples in case you want to conduct a study of X-ray microanalysis.