There are many different types of specimen holders that can used with any given electron microscope. The different holder types give the user control over things like temperature (heating and cooling holders), tilt (high tilt and dual tilt holders) and rotation in the plane of the grid (usually combined with tilting and other options). There are also holders specialized for tasks as simple as holding multiple specimens and as complicated as inducing strain into a specimen while inside the electron microscope or controling gas flow across a specimen while inside the instrument. Examples of the large range of specimen holders can be found in places like the Gatan website and questions about whether a given type of holder could be used with the 3200FS should be addressed to the director. The following holders are currently available to users of the JEOL JEM 3200FS: |
Warning: Under construction!
We have two identical JEOL specimen rods which are referred to as the "Common Specimen Holder," part EM-21010 (SCSH). Such specimen rods must be used with various JEOL "retainers" (the grid-holding attachement at the end of the rod). These specimen holders can be tilted around the x-axis (long axis of the specimen rod) and the amount of tilt is limited only by the size of the gap in the high resolution polepiece in the 3200FS and the width of an individual retainer. The smallest amount of tilt for any of the retainers seems to be ±25° and tilt ranges of at least ±70° are possible with some retainers and holders.
We currently have the following retainers:
standard single tilt room temperature retainer (EM-21020): This wide retainer is capable of tilting only about ±30° in the 3200FS. This retainer should be used most of the time when recording data that does not require significant tilt. Images showing the resolution that can be attained using this holder both untilted and at the tilt limit are located here.
high tilt room temperature retainer (EM-21311 HTR): This very narrow, high tilt retainer is capable of ±70° tilt in the 3200FS. It is probably the easiest of the holder/retainers to use and will be the one that most users initially learn to load. Images showing the resolution that can be attained using this holder both untilted and at high tilt are located here.
JEOL dual tilt beryllium holder (EM-31640 STHB): This dual tilt holder is ideal for situations where the user needs to orient a crystalline specimen along exact zone axis views (for example, electron diffraction studies or STEM zone axis imaging). It has a width similar to the standard room temperature holder described above and is thus limited to ±30° tilt around the x-axis. The polepiece in the 3200FS and the tilting mechanism of this holder also allow for ±30° around the y-axis (where + y-tilt means the edge of the grid nearest the holder's tip tilts "down" when the holder is inserted into the column). In addition to these tilting capabilities, the area immediately surrounding the grid is made from beryllium and thus presents a very low background signal for EDS. However, it should be noted here that there may be a small but measurable gold signal in the EDS spectra obtained using this holder: while most of the area surrounding the grid is beryllium, there is a bit of gold also and under some conditions, X-rays from this gold will be recorded in the EDS spectrum. Images showing the resolution that can be attained using this holder both untilted and tilted are located here.
Note: Beryllium (especially any BeO dust) is toxic and care should be taken when handling the dual tilt beryllium holder.
Fischione dual axis tomography holder (model 2040): This holder is designed for room temperature work with plastic embedded and sectioned or negatively stained specimens where multiple axis tomography is desired. The Fischione 2040 holder operates similarly to a conventional tilt and rotation holder:
the narrow tip of the rod allows for ±70° tilt around the x-axis while the large knob at the opposite end of the holder allows the user to rotate the grid freely through 360° or more (in the plane of the grid). However, when the small knob on the side of the large knob is tightened into position, the user can rotate the grid by precisely 90° simply by turning the large knob from its current position to the next position (in either direction) where the knob "locks" into place. In addition, the cut-down sides at the tip of the rod provide for a large viewing area even at high tilt. Images showing the resolution that can be attained using this holder both untilted and at its maximum tilt are located here.
Although this holder was designed with biological imaging in mind, there is no reason that it cannot be used for TEM (and eventually STEM) tomography of materials science specimens. The ability to rotate the grid freely while also tilting well beyond the limits of the dual tilt beryllium holder should also make this holder useful for materials science applications when it is desirable to tilt a materials science specimen both beyond the ranges available using the JEOL dual tilt beryllium holder listed above and along specific zone axis views.
- Gatan model 626 cryo-holder: This holder is the 3200FS's workhorse cryo-holder and is the holder that everyone should use for almost all cryoTEM applications. The only cases where the Gatan 914 cryo-holder (see below) should be used are when doing cryo electron tomograpphy (cryoET) or when using an orthogonal tilt data collection scheme for a frozen, hydrated specimen. This holder has a tilt range of ±35° in the 3200FS. Images showing the resolution that can be attained using this holder both untilted and at its maximum tilt are located here.
- Gatan model 914 cryo-holder (high tilt for tomography):
Coming soon!
We also have a Gatan model 655 Dry Pumping station equipped with two holder mainfolds for storing the cryoholders.
