An examination container includes a main body, a cover and a carrier stage. The main body has an accommodating trough for holding a sample. The cover is detachably connected to the main body to close the accommodating trough. The cover has a first through-hole penetrating through an outer surface and an inner surface of the cover, and includes a membrane arranging on the inner surface of the cover. The membrane has a second through-hole opposite to the first through-hole for passing an electron beam through the first through hole and the second through hole. The carrier stage is installed in a position corresponding to the second through-hole. The carrier stage is detachably arranged in the accommodating trough for a variety of examination purposes. An electron microscope using the abovementioned examination container is also disclosed.

Liquid sample imaging devices and processes are disclosed for high resolution TEM imaging and multimodal analyses of liquid sample materials in situ under high vacuum that are compatible with standard type TEM chip membranes and TEM sample holders allowing TEM liquid sample imaging to be performed wherever a TEM instrument is accessible and at a substantially reduced cost compared to prior art systems and approaches.

Build material handling unit (2) for a powder module (3) for an apparatus for additively manufacturing three-dimensional objects, which apparatus is adapted to successively layerwise selectively irradiate and consolidate layers of a build material (4) which can be consolidated by means of an energy source, wherein the build material handling unit (2) is coupled or can be coupled with a powder module (3), wherein the build material handling unit (2) is adapted to level and/or compact a volume of build material (4) arranged inside a powder chamber (5) of the powder module (3) by controlling the gas pressure inside the powder chamber (5).

An examination container includes a main body, a membrane assembly and a cover. The main body has an accommodating trough for holding sample. The membrane assembly covers an opening end of the accommodating trough. The membrane assembly includes a support body and a membrane. The support body has a first surface and a second surface, wherein the support body is flat and has a first through-hole penetrating through the first surface and the second surface. The membrane is arranged on the second surface side of the support body and has a second through-hole. The second through-hole is opposite to the first through-hole and allows a charged particle beam to pass the second through-hole. The cover is detachably connected to the main body to secure the membrane assembly. The membrane assembly is easy to replace and uses less consumables. An electron microscope using the abovementioned examination container is also disclosed.

An electron microscope sample holder that includes at least one capillary having a sufficient inner diameter to act as a catheter pathway that allows objects that can be accommodated within the at least one capillary to be replaced or swapped with other objects. The sample holder having at least one capillary allows the user to insert and remove temporary fluidic pathways, sensors or other tools without the need to dissemble the holder.

An optical pyrometer having a coaxial light guide delivers laser radiation through optics to heat a localized area on a sample, and simultaneously collects optical radiation from the sample to perform temperature measurement of the heated area. Inner and outer light guides can comprise the core and inner cladding, respectively, of a double-clad fiber (DCF), or can be formed using a combination of optical fibers in one or more coaxial bundles. Coaxial construction and shared optics facilitate alignment of the centers of the heated and observed areas on the sample. The heated area can be on the order of micrometers when using a single-mode optical fiber core as the inner light guide. The system can be configured to heat small samples within a vacuum system of charged-particle beam microscopes such as electron microscopes. A method for using the invention in a microscope is also provided.

A heating device having a heating element patterned into a robust MEMs substrate, wherein the heating element is electrically isolated from a fluid reservoir or bulk conductive sample, but close enough in proximity to an imagable window/area having the fluid or sample thereon, such that the sample is heated through conduction. The heating device can be used in a microscope sample holder, e.g., for SEM, TEM, STEM, X-ray synchrotron, scanning probe microscopy, and optical microscopy.

An electron microscope specimen includes a first electron-transport layer, a second electron-transport layer, a spacer layer, and a carrier layer. The second electron-transport layer has a first opening, a second opening, and a viewing area, wherein the viewing area is between the first opening and the second opening. The spacer layer is sandwiched between the first electron-transport layer and the second electron-transport layer, and the spacer layer has an accommodating space communicating with the first opening and the second opening. The carrier layer is disposed on the second electron-transport layer, and has a viewing window, a first injection hole, and a second injection hole, wherein the viewing window is substantially aligned with the viewing area and the accommodating space, and the first injection hole and the second injection hole respectively communicate with the first opening and the second opening.

An examination container includes a main body, a membrane assembly and a cover. The main body has an accommodating trough for holding sample. The membrane assembly covers an opening end of the accommodating trough. The membrane assembly includes a support body and a membrane. The support body has a first surface and a second surface, wherein the support body is flat and has a first through-hole penetrating through the first surface and the second surface. The membrane is arranged on the second surface side of the support body and has a second through-hole. The second through-hole is opposite to the first through-hole and allows a charged particle beam to pass the second through-hole. The cover is detachably connected to the main body to secure the membrane assembly. The membrane assembly is easy to replace and uses less consumables. An electron microscope using the abovementioned examination container is also disclosed.

A sample holder reliably holds a liquid or gel sample, and the yield of observation with a charged particle beam device is improved. A sample holder 101 includes a first member 102 that has a lid member 111 and a first chip 105 provided with a first window 123 where a laminated film including a first insulating thin film 104 is formed, and a second member 103 that has a base material 127 having a first bottom seal surface 203 and a second bottom seal surface 200, an electrode 108 disposed on the base material, and a second chip 107 provided with a second window 124 where a second insulating thin film 106 is formed and held on the second bottom seal surface via a second seal material 119 such that the second window faces the electrode, in which a region inside a first seal material is maintained airtightly from a region outside the first seal material by the first member and the second member being combined and the first seal material being crushed between the first bottom seal surface and an upper seal surface of the lid member.