Equipment Type:

Microscopy/Surface Analysis

TEM Sample Preparation

Thin Film Fabrication

Instrument Capabilities

The Leica EM TIC 3X is a precision triple ion beam milling system designed for high-quality preparation of cross-sections and surfaces for electron microscopy.  It uses a broad, low-energy ion beam to remove material in a controlled manner, producing clean, deformation-free surfaces with minimal mechanical damage.

Key features:

• Triple ion-beam milling for high-quality cross-section and surface preparation.
• Wide-area cross-sectioning of samples greater than 4 × 1 mm.
• Large-area planar polishing over 25 mm diameter.
• Ion-beam energies from 1–10 keV (0.5 – 4.5 mA in 0.1 mA steps) for controlled material removal.
• High milling rates up to ~300 µm/hour, depending on material and conditions.
• Low-damage surface preparation with minimal mechanical deformation or smearing.
• Cryogenic cooling capability down to approximately −160 °C for temperature-sensitive materials.
• M80 Stereo microscope complete with 8:1  zoom and 0.8X achro objective
• VCT 500 docking station
• Equippend with stage for cross-sectioning
• TIC3X-VCT cryo sample holder  0 – 2 mm
• Cryo-saw insert used for cryo sample pre-preparation
• 25 L dewar with trolley
• Suitable for hard, soft, brittle, porous, multilayer, and heterogeneous materials.
• Enables preparation for SEM, EDS/WDS, EBSD, AFM, and other surface-analysis techniques.
• Particularly effective for battery materials, thin films, coatings, multilayers, interfaces, and failure analysis.

Fees and Policies

• UT Users: $20/hour
• Higher Education/State Agencies: $41/hour
• Corporate/External Users: $41/hour

Traning

Please contact Dr. Hugo Celio to schedule a training session.