In TEM observation, mounting thin-foil specimens prepared by FIB (Focused Ion Beam) onto a TEM holder is one of the most nerve-wracking tasks.

If a specimen is accidentally damaged or lost during mounting on the holder, the loss goes far beyond the specimen itself:

• Remaking Cost and Time
  Even if fabricated in-house, it incurs tens of thousands of yen and more than a month of waiting for machine time reservations. For samples outsourced to external vendors, fabrication costs of several hundred thousand yen and long delivery times will be wasted.
• Cancelled Observation and Incurred Instrument Fees
  If the specimen is damaged, observation for that day must be cancelled, yet fees for the reserved TEM instrument time will still be charged.
• No Warranty for Damage or Loss
  Even for expensive externally fabricated samples, our Division cannot provide any compensation or warranty for damage during sample mounting. This places immense pressure on our staff, and for highly critical specimens, we may ask users to mount them themselves.

Manual Handling Involves Risks Regardless of Eyesight or Experience

Even young researchers and students who feel confident in their eyesight or manual dexterity should never let their guard down:

• Difficulty seeing tweezer tips due to presbyopia or myopia
• Sudden hand slips or sneezes while holding a specimen
• Trembling fingers caused by the immense pressure of “I must not fail”

As long as we rely solely on human manual dexterity, it is extremely difficult to completely eliminate accidental human error.

Zero Failures After Introduction: The Manual Manipulator in Our Division

To prevent these risks and ensure that anyone can mount samples safely and reliably, our Division is equipped with a dedicated manual manipulator (Rabbitol-XYZ Fine).

• Precise Control in Microns with Fine Adjustment Knobs
  XYZ dial controls allow users to approach the target position slowly and steadily without being affected by intuition or hand tremor.
• Outstanding Stability Through Fixture Clamping
  The specimen is firmly held even if unexpected vibrations occur during the operation, drastically reducing the risk of dropping or accidental contact.
• Staff Experience
  From the direct experience of our staff who previously struggled with fine handling due to presbyopia, this is a highly reliable tool: “Since introducing this manipulator, sample mounting failures have been reduced to zero.”

[Important] Pay Close Attention to Operating Procedures

While the manipulator is a very powerful tool, “incorrect operating sequences (order of moving axes, approach direction, etc.) can crush or catch and damage the specimen.”

Please keep the following points in mind:

1. Do Not Practice on Actual Critical Samples First
   Before handling expensive or critical samples, always practice with dummy specimens or practice grids to get a feel for the movement of each axis.
2. Verify Procedures Step-by-Step
   Never rush. Check the direction of knob rotation against the microscope field of view and operate carefully.
3. Ask Staff on Your First Use
   For first-time users, our staff will guide you through the correct operation procedures and key precautions to prevent damage.

Demonstration of Operation (Reference Video)

Please watch the product video below to see fine positioning in action:

Summary: Learn How to Use It Before Important Observations!

The manipulator is available for all users of our Division.

To avoid wasting precious machine time and to safely bring valuable samples into TEM observation, we strongly recommend practicing and mastering this tool beforehand. If you are interested, please feel free to contact the staff of the Division of Analytical Electron Microscopy, IMR.

* Product reference: Micro Support Co., Ltd. Rabbitol-XYZ Fine (Product specification reference link; not directly affiliated with our Division)

About this article
This article is a piece written by AI, summarizing informal impressions from day-to-day operations and answers to questions we frequently receive. We hope you find it useful as background reading, but please note that it does not necessarily reflect finalized institutional policy. If anything is unclear, please feel free to contact us.

This FAQ collects questions we frequently receive about TEM observation/analysis, TEM specimen preparation, self-use, training, technical support, and equipment usage fees.
The amounts and durations given are not fixed prices or guarantees of results; they are estimates to help you plan your budget and mode of use. The cost estimates assume use within the university, or use under an ARIM project (with data sharing) for academic purposes with an expectation of published results. Other categories of use may be subject to a different fee structure, so please check the latest fee schedule and usage guide at the time of use for the official terms.

Overview of Usage Fees

Q. Roughly how much does it cost per specimen for TEM observation/analysis?

The cost of TEM observation/analysis varies considerably depending on the specimen’s condition, whether specimen preparation is needed, the instrument used, the content of the observation/analysis, and whether it is self-use or requested use.

If the TEM specimen has already been prepared by the user and an experienced user performs self-use, this can sometimes be done for roughly a few thousand to a few tens of thousands of yen.

On the other hand, for a general bulk specimen whose processing conditions have not been established, when TEM specimen preparation through observation/analysis is requested as a package, the Division’s budgeting estimate assumes about 2.5 days for TEM specimen preparation by FIB plus about 1 day for observation/analysis on JEM-ARM200F.

For use within the university, or use under an ARIM project (with data sharing) for academic purposes with an expectation of published results, we use roughly ¥200,000-300,000 per specimen as a starting point for initial budget planning. This is not a fixed price; it varies with the required equipment time and technical support time.

Q. Why is there such a wide range in usage fees?

The total cost of TEM observation/analysis is not determined by the TEM’s own equipment usage time alone.

Reaching the target data requires multiple steps: specimen sampling/pre-treatment, TEM specimen preparation, searching the observation area, adjusting crystal orientation, acquiring image/electron diffraction data, EDS/EELS analysis, and additional observation/processing as needed.

In self-use, where the user carries these out, technical support can be limited to what is actually needed; when everything is requested as a package, it can become specialized work spanning several days.

Q. Can self-use keep costs lower than requested use?

Yes. When the user handles equipment operation, choice of observation area, and observation/analysis condition judgments, technical support fees can be kept down and the equipment can be used only for the time actually needed.

Also, because the researcher who understands the specimen best can judge as observation proceeds, this is advantageous not only in cost but also in the speed of research decision-making, especially for specimens whose observation target or conditions are not yet established.

That said, self-use requires an operating license for each instrument, as well as the skill to judge appropriate observation/analysis conditions for the research purpose.

Q. If the observation/analysis result is not what we expected, do we still have to pay?

In principle, yes.

The Division’s equipment usage fees and technical support fees are not success-based; they are charged for the equipment use and technical support actually performed. So even if the expected observation or analysis result is not obtained, in principle a fee applies for the work actually carried out.

For specimens whose processing or observation conditions have not been established, we prioritize the success rate of specimen preparation/observation over processing speed, so that the fee the user bears is used as effectively as possible. Cases where the Division is clearly at fault, such as an equipment failure, are handled separately.

TEM Specimen Preparation by Focused Ion Beam (FIB)

Q. Why is FIB used as the standard method for requested specimen preparation?

FIB’s major advantages are its positional selectivity, letting a TEM specimen be prepared from a specific location, and the fact that thinning can be carried out while checking the processing location and state on an SEM image. Because a target area such as an interface, precipitate, or defect can be selected for processing, and the workflow can be relatively well standardized even for specimens with unestablished processing conditions, it is well suited to requested specimen preparation.

Methods such as electropolishing and ion milling can be lower-cost and more efficient than FIB when the conditions for a given material have already been established within the lab. For specimens with unestablished conditions, however, the need to repeat pre-processing, optimize processing conditions, confirm the electron-transparent area by TEM, and carry out additional processing makes the required time difficult to estimate in advance.

For this reason, except for materials where ion-beam-induced damage is a concern or nanoparticles for which the dispersion method is suitable, the Division uses FIB as the standard method for requested specimen preparation from bulk specimens whose processing conditions have not been established.

Q. How much time does FIB specimen preparation require?

When processing conditions for the same or a similar specimen are already well established, preparation can sometimes be completed in about a day.

On the other hand, for academic research specimens whose processing conditions have not been established, the process must proceed while checking the specimen’s response to ion irradiation and the degree of processing damage. For general requested specimens with unestablished processing conditions, the Division uses an average of about 2.5 days as a budgeting estimate.

Q. Can a high beam-current condition shorten FIB processing time?

Applying a high beam-current condition to the rough-milling step can sometimes shorten processing time. Users may also specify particular processing conditions.

However, prioritizing processing speed too much raises the risk of losing the target area, ion-irradiation damage, and specimen deformation. Even if the specified conditions do not produce the expected TEM specimen, fees for the equipment use and technical support actually performed will still apply.

Q. Is automated FIB processing time also counted as technical support time?

For requested use, in principle, we count the FIB equipment usage time and technical support time as the same duration.

Even during automated processing, checking the processing state, judging progress, responding to abnormalities, and changing conditions as needed are all required, and the staff member cannot fully step away from that work to other tasks. We think of the technical support fee not only in terms of the moments spent actively operating the equipment, but based on whether the staff member’s time is being reserved for the requested work.

On the other hand, when a self-use user normally operates the equipment themselves and requests technical support only for a specific step, only the time actually spent providing support is counted as technical support time, so equipment usage time and technical support time do not necessarily match.

TEM Specimen Preparation Methods Other Than FIB

The TEM specimen preparation method is chosen according to the specimen’s form, material, observation purpose, and the required positional/orientation selectivity. Besides FIB, methods include the dispersion method, the crushing method, electropolishing, Ar ion milling, and specimen preparation with the ion slicer.

These are not technically inferior to FIB. In particular, when a lab continuously handles the same or a similar material and has accumulated specimen-preparation conditions and experience in-house, these methods can sometimes produce good TEM specimens at lower cost and more efficiently than FIB.

Q. What kind of specimens is the dispersion method suited to?

For nanoparticle dispersions or powder specimens that can be dispersed in a solvent, the dispersion method – mounting the specimen directly on a support-film TEM grid – can be applied.

Typically, the specimen is dispersed in a suitable solvent, the dispersion state is adjusted with ultrasonication if needed, and then a drop is placed on a support-film TEM grid and thoroughly dried before observation. The direct cost is mainly the TEM grid and solvent, making this one of the lower-cost TEM specimen preparation methods.

It suits particle size/shape, dispersion/aggregation state, determining whether a material is crystalline or amorphous, and high-resolution observation without a specified orientation. On the other hand, the position and crystal orientation of particles on the support film generally cannot be chosen. When targeting a specific zone axis, phase, or interface, specimen preparation itself may be low-cost, but searching the observation area and adjusting crystal orientation on the TEM can take time.

Q. When is the crushing method effective?

This method mechanically crushes a bulk specimen and mounts the resulting electron-transparent flakes or fine particles on a support-film TEM grid. Since it requires no dedicated thin-film processing equipment, it can allow simple, low-cost preparation of TEM specimens depending on the material and observation purpose.

On the other hand, the sampling location and crystal orientation cannot be specified, and plastic deformation, fracturing, and surface damage from crushing may affect the observation results. For this reason, it may not be suitable when the aim is to evaluate the original bulk microstructure and interfaces while preserving their positional relationships.

Q. When is electropolishing effective?

For metals and alloys, setting appropriate electrolyte and polishing conditions makes electropolishing an effective TEM specimen preparation method that can produce a relatively wide electron-transparent area at low cost. Labs that continuously handle the same or a similar material system can efficiently prepare many specimens once they establish the electrolyte composition, applied voltage, temperature, and polishing end-point conditions.

On the other hand, the electrolyte and polishing conditions used vary greatly by material system, and for materials with unestablished conditions, finding suitable conditions is itself a substantial undertaking. The Division does not have systematically accumulated electropolishing conditions that can be applied in common across all materials.

Q. Why is the electropolishing instrument basically available only for loan use?

The Division’s electropolishing equipment was transferred from a now-closed in-house lab. Because the Division did not operate electropolishing as a common-use menu item before the transfer, know-how on electrolyte and polishing conditions for each material system has not been systematically accumulated as shared-facility knowledge.

In addition, the Division does not have local exhaust equipment (a fume hood) for running electropolishing on an ongoing basis, nor a dedicated environment for consolidated storage/management of chemicals and waste-liquid treatment.

For this reason, we currently do not provide comprehensive support for requested specimen preparation with this method; it is basically available for loan use by labs that have their own knowledge of electrolytes, polishing conditions, and chemical management.

Q. What kind of specimen preparation method is Ar ion milling?

This method irradiates a specimen that has already been pre-thinned by mechanical polishing with an Ar ion beam to form an electron-transparent area. The Division has ion milling instruments including a Gatan PIPS II (B) and a Fischione Model 1010.

It is widely used for TEM specimen preparation of oxides, ceramics, composite materials, and the like, and where processing conditions for a given material are established, it can produce specimens at a lower direct cost than FIB.

On the other hand, the specimen normally needs to be thinned sufficiently by mechanical polishing before being loaded into the instrument, and this pre-processing step also requires skill appropriate to the material. Ion energy, incidence angle, cooling conditions, and processing end-point also need to be set according to the material.

Q. Do you currently accept requested specimen preparation by ion milling?

The Division previously provided comprehensive support for requested specimen preparation by ion milling. Because no dedicated technical staff member is currently assigned, we no longer operate this as a standard specimen preparation service accepting requested specimens on an ongoing basis.

At present, technical support staff mainly operate the instrument as needed to maintain its condition and confirm that it is working properly. Keeping the equipment in usable condition and continuously carrying out requested specimen preparation while judging material-specific processing conditions require different staffing levels.

Q. What kind of specimen preparation is the ion slicer suited to?

The Division has a JEOL EM-09100IS ion slicer. A feature of the ion slicer is that ion-beam processing can begin from a relatively thick specimen, which makes it especially suited to preparing cross-sectional TEM specimens from bulk materials.

Because processing can start from a thicker state than with ordinary ion milling, it is also effective for brittle materials that are difficult to finish thin by mechanical polishing.

Labs that continuously prepare cross-sectional specimens from the same or similar bulk materials can readily standardize specimen dimensions, pre-polishing, mounting method, and ion irradiation conditions, making this method well suited to routinizing specimen preparation at the lab level.

Q. Do you currently accept requested specimen preparation with the ion slicer?

As with ion milling, the Division previously provided comprehensive support for requested specimen preparation with the ion slicer, but because no dedicated technical staff member is currently assigned, we no longer devote resources to ongoing requested specimen preparation by this method.

At present, technical support staff mainly operate the instrument as needed to maintain its condition and confirm that it is working properly.

Q. Why don’t you offer comprehensive requested-preparation services for methods other than FIB?

The reasons differ by method.

• Dispersion and crushing methods: it is often more efficient for the user, who understands the research purpose and specimen characteristics, to prepare the specimen themselves, including choosing and adjusting conditions
• Electropolishing: beyond material-specific electrolyte/polishing conditions, a dedicated operating environment is needed, including local exhaust, chemical storage/management, and waste-liquid treatment
• Ion milling and the ion slicer: requested specimen preparation was offered previously, but standard requested-preparation operations are currently suspended because no dedicated technical staff member is assigned

For this reason, for methods other than FIB, we review the specimen, the observation purpose, any known processing conditions, and what pre-treatment the user’s lab can perform, and consider each case individually.

Self-Use, Training, and Licensing

Q. Why does the Division treat self-use as its basic approach?

Cost is not the only reason.

In self-use, the researcher who best understands the specimen selects the observation area and can judge, on the spot, the next observation/analysis conditions based on the image, electron diffraction, and analysis results obtained. Especially for specimens whose observation target or conditions have not been established, this kind of research judgment strongly affects both experimental efficiency and data quality.

Labs that use the facility continuously can also accumulate, within the lab, not just equipment operation but specimen-preparation and observation know-how specific to their material system. Where a user can acquire the necessary skills, the Division treats self-use as its basic approach.

Q. If we complete basic-operation training, can we immediately observe our own research specimens on our own?

We provide standardized training in the basic operation of the equipment. However, being able to operate the equipment safely on your own and being able to obtain observation/analysis data appropriate to the research purpose are different skills.

Even after completing basic-operation training, observation experience with actual research specimens is still needed. The time required to become proficient varies considerably with usage frequency, repetition, the material system involved, the difficulty of the observation/analysis, and your approach, so we cannot state a uniform number of sessions that would be “enough.”

Q. What does license certification actually certify?

The Division’s license system is a scheme to confirm the skills and knowledge needed to operate the shared equipment safely, without causing trouble or breakdowns, and on that basis to permit use of the equipment.

It checks specimen conditions, inserting/withdrawing the specimen holder, handling of the vacuum system, electron-beam operation, checking equipment status, protecting the detectors, and responses to abnormal situations.

License certification therefore does not certify that a user can independently carry out research-appropriate observation/analysis of any material system.

Q. How does training on JEM-2100plus proceed?

Our basic-to-elementary training generally proceeds as follows.

1. Basic 1: Safety, equipment, loading the specimen, up through getting a beam
2. Basic 2: Adjustments and finding your field of view, mainly on the screen
3. Elementary 1: Basic TEM observation and data acquisition with the camera
4. Elementary 2: Dark-field observation, NBD/CBD, basic STEM, etc.
5. Elementary 3: Any additional skills needed
6. Self-directed practice
7. Elementary license certification

The content may change depending on equipment status and when the training is held. Rather than certifying users based on a single explanation, the goal is to bring them, through hands-on practice, repetition, and self-directed operation, to a point where they can handle the shared equipment on their own.

Q. Is learning to operate the equipment different from learning to acquire the data you need?

Yes. What users ultimately need is not equipment operation itself, but the ability to obtain the data their research requires and judge the next observation/analysis direction on the spot.

Basic operation can be standardized as a set of procedures. In an actual research specimen, however, you also need to evaluate the specimen’s condition, select the observation area, adjust crystal orientation, set imaging/diffraction/analysis conditions, and decide whether additional observation is needed based on the results obtained.

Because these depend heavily on the material system and research purpose, we generally do not provide lab-specific observation know-how as standard training.

Accumulating material-specific observation/analysis experience through attended observation with your own research specimens and continued self-use is, in effect, the training for acquiring the data you need.

Q. How much experience is needed to become proficient in TEM observation/analysis?

There is no single answer. The following is not a formal curriculum or a guarantee of any particular level, but a typical pattern seen in labs that use TEM relatively frequently, at roughly 2-4 sessions per month, over time.

There is a large gap between being able to observe your own research specimens and being able to handle requested specimens with a different material background. For your own research specimens, you already know the material’s history, the expected microstructure/phases, and what to look for. For a requested specimen, by contrast, you must judge the specimen’s condition, observation area, phase, crystal orientation, and analysis conditions, and build an observation/analysis plan, starting from limited prior information.

Q. Does the time to become proficient shorten for researchers who use TEM at high frequency?

Yes. With higher usage frequency, proficiency with the material systems and observation methods you have experience with can improve considerably faster.

The experience-year figures above assume a power-user lab continuing at roughly 2-4 uses per month. Researchers in instrument- or analysis-technique development, who use TEM as their main research tool at a frequency of once or twice a week or more, accumulate experience quickly, and for the material systems/methods they continue to work with, may become proficient at twice the rate or more compared with a typical lab.

However, becoming highly proficient with a particular material system/method at high frequency is a different thing from being broadly capable of handling requested specimens with a different material background.

Q. What kind of researchers tend to use requested observation/analysis?

Researchers whose main research theme is instrument or analysis-technique development, and who use TEM at high frequency, mostly carry out their own observation/analysis and do not typically rely on requested use.

Requested use is centered on researchers who use TEM to obtain information needed for part of their research, rather than as their primary and constant research tool. Some labs also choose, as a matter of policy, not to build up TEM specimen-preparation/operation/observation skills in-house and instead to request a specialized facility when needed.

For a one-off observation/analysis, or when the burden of maintaining skills and equipment continuously within the lab is large, requested use can sometimes reduce total cost.

Q. Why is continued self-practice and use still needed after obtaining a license?

A TEM is a large research instrument built from a high-voltage/high-vacuum system, a precision specimen stage, specimen holders, and highly sensitive detectors. Using it safely and reliably requires not only memorizing the operating procedure but also repeatedly building up the ability to check equipment status, judge whether a specimen/holder is suitable, and respond to vacuum abnormalities and the like.

Because even a seemingly minor operating mistake can lead to a shutdown or an expensive repair, it is important to maintain your operating skill through continued use even after obtaining a license.

Q. How much impact can an operating mistake have on the equipment?

The following are examples used in past skills training at the Division to explain the scale of impact an operating mistake can have on the equipment. They do not represent current repair estimates or amounts that would be charged to a user.

The actual handling of failures and any associated costs are determined case by case, based on the cause, the circumstances, and applicable regulations.

Instrument Selection for Observation/Analysis Purposes

Q. Does using the lowest-fee instrument first reduce total cost?

Not necessarily.

If you have sufficient experience with the material system and TEM observation, and the required observation method is clear, choosing an instrument that is just sufficient for the purpose can keep usage fees down.

On the other hand, for a requested specimen whose observation target or conditions are not yet established, doing a preliminary observation on a general-purpose TEM and then moving to JEM-ARM200F can require re-searching the observation area and re-adjusting conditions each time the instrument changes. For this reason, unless there is a clear reason not to, our standard approach is to use JEM-ARM200F to acquire morphology/composition information from low magnification and narrow down the target area.

Q. For a requested specimen whose observation conditions are not yet established, how do you start observation on JEM-ARM200F?

For a specimen whose observation target/conditions have not been established, we first acquire HAADF-STEM images from low magnification, combining this with STEM-EDS mapping as needed to check the correspondence between morphology and composition.

Based on this, we narrow down the target phase, interface, precipitate, etc., adjust crystal orientation as needed, and then proceed to high-resolution observation and additional analysis.

This does not mean starting at the highest magnification; it is a matter of organizing overall information about the specimen at low magnification first and then progressively narrowing the observation area.

Q. Is it best to do all observation/analysis on JEM-ARM200F?

While JEM-ARM200F can handle many kinds of observation/analysis, it is not necessarily optimal for every experiment. The Division deliberately maintains multiple TEMs with different characteristics for different observation purposes.

• JEM-2000EXII: electron diffraction, bright-field (BF)/dark-field (DF) observation, confirming crystal orientation/orientation relationships using its high-tilt capability, etc.
• EM-002B: TEM observation for specific purposes, including magnetic materials and other cases where ease of instrument recovery matters
• JEM-2100plus: a general-purpose instrument for standard TEM observation, electron diffraction, and high-resolution TEM, and the main instrument used for user training
• JEM-ARM200F(S)/JEM-ARM200F(W): high-resolution observation/analysis using HAADF-STEM with aberration-corrected STEM, EDS, EELS, etc.

We choose the instrument taking into account the required spatial resolution, specimen tilt, electron diffraction, STEM, and spectroscopic analysis needs.

Q. How much proficiency is needed for self-use of JEM-ARM200F?

JEM-ARM200F is a high-performance instrument centered on aberration-corrected STEM, and making proper use of its capabilities requires, in addition to basic TEM operation, a corresponding degree of observation experience. Its configuration is also complex and includes highly sensitive detectors, so managing operational risk matters for a shared facility.

For this reason, users acquire general TEM skills on JEM-2100plus first, and move to self-use of JEM-ARM200F based on their research purpose, the observation/analysis method required, usage frequency, and level of proficiency.

Observation/Analysis and Research Judgment

Q. Does a multi-phase specimen take longer to observe/analyze?

It tends to.

For a multi-phase specimen, identifying the target phase requires exploring the observation area while correlating morphology, composition, electron diffraction, and other information. A researcher who is used to continuously working with the same material system may be able to judge this quickly, but for a requested specimen whose material background or observation conditions have not been established, identifying the phase and selecting a representative area can take time.

Q. If data is technically acquired correctly, is its research validity also guaranteed?

No, it is not guaranteed.

The equipment operating normally and acquiring TEM images, STEM images, electron diffraction, EDS, EELS, and other data under appropriate observation/analysis conditions is a different matter from judging whether that data is representative of the specimen as a whole, or captures a phase, interface, or area that matters for the research.

Especially for a specimen whose material background or observation target has not been sufficiently shared, it is important for the researcher who best understands the specimen to be involved in the observation.

Q. Does standard technical support include academic interpretation of the results?

Standard technical support mainly covers TEM specimen preparation, equipment operation, setting observation/analysis conditions, and acquiring data such as images, electron diffraction, and spectra.

On the other hand, if you need ongoing involvement extending to formulating a research hypothesis, judging the research validity of the data obtained, materials-science interpretation, designing additional experiments, and forming conclusions for a paper, it is more appropriate to treat this as joint research rather than standard requested use.

Equipment Usage Fees, Technical Support, and Joint Research

Q. Why is an equipment usage fee needed even though this is a university shared facility?

Keeping large research instruments continuously available requires ongoing maintenance/operating costs, including maintenance, repairs, electricity, cooling water, and air conditioning.

The Division’s equipment usage fees are calculated based on the university’s lending/fee-calculation standards. Conceptually, this can be expressed as unit usage cost ≈ annual maintenance/operating cost ÷ estimated usage hours.

The Division does not pass on the full maintenance cost through equipment usage fees, and the fee is not set to include a profit margin. For detailed calculation grounds and financial figures, please refer to the published materials.

Q. Why do equipment usage fees differ between facilities?

This is because the fee-calculation method and the structure of who bears the maintenance cost differ between facilities.

The unit usage cost can differ for the same type of equipment depending on the proportion of maintenance cost borne by common institutional funds, various subsidies, the annual usage hours used in the calculation, and how equipment purchase cost is treated.

For this reason, the appropriateness of a fee cannot be judged by comparing hourly rates alone.

Q. Why is a technical support fee needed for requested use?

The Division is not a contract-analysis facility performing analysis exclusively; it is a shared facility based on self-use. In self-use, the user handles equipment operation and observation/analysis condition judgments, so staff time is not continuously tied up in these tasks. Requested specimen preparation and requested observation/analysis, on the other hand, require the assigned staff member to secure dedicated working time for each case.

The technical support fee is set based on the idea of charging, roughly, the portion of hourly staff labor cost corresponding to the time the assigned staff member’s schedule is committed to the requested work. Whereas the equipment usage fee relates to the cost of maintaining and operating the equipment, the technical support fee is a cost for the human resources that self-use would not normally require.

At present, the Division has no dedicated technical staff member assigned, and faculty must also prioritize equipment management and maintaining the shared-use environment. If requested observation/analysis were accepted free of charge on an ongoing basis under this staffing, we could not handle every case, making fair shared use difficult. For this reason, requested use and technical support are handled mainly under the CINTS/ARIM support framework, with a set technical support fee corresponding to the scope of support.

Q. If we arrange it as joint research, are equipment usage and technical support fees waived?

In principle, no, they are not waived.

Joint research is not a scheme for avoiding the fees of requested analysis; it is a framework for advancing research content together.

Whether to accept joint research is decided case by case, taking into account the research content, its academic significance, the faculty member’s expertise, and the balance with their research, education, and equipment-management duties. Equipment usage fees and the like also apply in principle even for joint research.

The main difference from ordinary requested use is that, beyond equipment operation and data acquisition, the faculty member is involved as a co-researcher in the research plan, the observation/analysis policy, data analysis, and the academic interpretation of the results.

ARIM/CINTS Shared-Use Support and External Use

Q. What effect does external use have on the availability of the equipment for in-university use?

External use also requires equipment operating time and staff time, and it uses a portion of the shared facility’s finite usage capacity. At the same time, when evaluating the Division’s shared-use system, it is not appropriate to consider the equipment time occupied by external use in isolation.

The Division’s core equipment includes instruments installed through ARIM and its predecessor projects. Staff assigned under the ARIM/CINTS project provide the technical support, and revenue from equipment usage fees and technical support fees also contributes, as a result, to the stable maintenance and operation of the shared facility as a whole.

Accordingly, when considering the impact of external use, the relevant comparison is not “the current equipment, staffing, and funding maintained while only external use is removed,” but rather “what the situation would be without the equipment, staffing, and funding support provided through ARIM/CINTS.”

The Division publishes information on the funding for equipment and on its finances. Please refer to the published materials for details.

Q. How is requested FIB use positioned within the operation of the shared facility?

TEM specimen preparation by FIB tends to occupy the equipment for a relatively long time per case, and requested use accounts for a high proportion of its use. Because requested use in principle counts equipment usage time and technical support time as the same duration, both equipment usage fees and technical support fees apply.

Requested FIB use therefore uses equipment time and staff resources, while its revenue also contributes substantially to the stable maintenance and operation of the shared facility as a whole.

Ways to Reduce Your Usage Cost

Q. What can we do to keep usage cost as low as possible?

The key to reducing usage cost is not simply comparing the hourly rate of different instruments, but reducing the total amount of specimen preparation, equipment use, and technical support needed to obtain the target data.

1. Make use of self-use: If the user can choose the observation area and judge observation/analysis conditions, technical support can be limited to what is actually needed.
2. Build up specimen-preparation conditions within your lab: When continuously handling the same or a similar material, it is effective to accumulate reproducible procedures for dispersion, mechanical polishing, electropolishing, ion milling, and so on.
3. Clarify the purpose of observation/analysis: Making your research question concrete – such as “what do we want to confirm about this interface” or “what is the composition of this phase” – can reduce time spent searching observation areas and doing unnecessary analysis.
4. Build up experience with the same material system: Accumulating FIB processing conditions, observation conditions, and characteristics of the target area reduces trial and error.
5. Choose an instrument/analysis method that is adequate for the purpose: If you understand the material system and observation method well, JEM-2100plus and similar instruments may be enough to achieve your purpose.
6. Process multiple specimens in stages: It is efficient to establish specimen-preparation/observation conditions on a representative specimen first, then process the rest based on those results.
7. Check available support programs: Where eligible, you may be able to use shared-facility support programs within the university.

The single most effective way to reduce usage cost is to increase what your lab can do on its own, and to concentrate your use of the shared facility on the specimen preparation, observation, and analysis you actually need it for.
Beyond fees, the Division treats self-use as its basic approach wherever possible, from the standpoint of faster research decision-making and the accumulation of skills and know-how.

Q. Are there support programs for early-career researchers?

Tohoku University has support programs for shared-facility use aimed at, among others, early-career researchers.

Because program details can change, this FAQ does not fix specific support rates or caps. Please check the latest information at the time of use.

Information Needed When You Contact Us

Q. What information should we provide when we contact you?

The following information makes it easier for us to work out the right combination of TEM specimen preparation method, instrument, and self-use/attended support/requested use:

• What you want to find out from your research
• The specimen’s material, shape, dimensions, and condition
• The location, phase, or interface you want to observe
• Any known handling precautions or known constraints regarding electron-beam/ion-beam irradiation
• What specimen-preparation/observation steps your lab can carry out
• Your prior TEM experience and how often you expect to use it
• Any known processing conditions, past observation results, or the analysis method you would like to use

It is fine if you have not yet decided on an instrument or analysis method. Please start by telling us your research purpose and specimen information.

For a more detailed explanation of how we think about costs, please also see “How Much Does TEM Analysis Cost? — Cost and Usage Guide for TEM Sample Preparation, Observation, and Analysis.”

※ This post was created by an AI agent.

About this article
This article is a piece written by AI, summarizing informal impressions from day-to-day operations and answers to questions we frequently receive. We hope you find it useful as background reading, but please note that it does not necessarily reflect finalized institutional policy. If anything is unclear, please feel free to contact us.

Introduction
The cost of TEM observation and analysis varies widely: from a few thousand to a few tens of thousands of yen when an experienced user prepares the TEM specimen themselves and uses the microscope on a self-use basis, up to several hundred thousand yen when bulk-sample TEM specimen preparation, observation, and analysis are all requested as a package.
When a general bulk specimen with no established processing conditions is requested as a full package, with no specification of preparation method or observation conditions, the Division uses about 2.5 days for TEM specimen preparation by focused ion beam (FIB), plus about 1 day for observation and analysis on JEM-ARM200F as its standard estimate of working days. In the early stages of budget planning, please use roughly ¥200,000-300,000 per specimen as a starting point.
The cost estimates in this article assume use within the university, or use under an ARIM project (with data sharing) for academic purposes with an expectation of published results. Other categories of use may be subject to a different fee structure, so please check the latest fee schedule at the time of use.
Note that the figures shown here are not fixed-rate prices. The required equipment time and technical support time will vary depending on the specimen’s condition, the observation/analysis objective, the usage category, and the scope of technical support required.

How TEM Analysis Costs Are Determined

The cost of TEM observation and analysis is not determined by the equipment usage fee for the TEM itself alone. Reaching the target data requires a number of process steps, depending on the condition of the specimen.

Specimen sampling/pre-treatment → TEM specimen preparation → preliminary observation → search for the observation area → adjustment of crystal orientation → acquisition of image/electron diffraction data → EDS/EELS analysis, etc. → additional observation/processing as needed

Total cost varies considerably depending on which steps the user handles and which steps are requested as technical support.

If a TEM specimen has already been prepared and an experienced user can judge the appropriate observation conditions for the purpose, the equipment can be self-used for only the time actually needed. On the other hand, if a bulk specimen is handed over and TEM specimen preparation, search for observation areas, orientation adjustment, and observation/analysis are all requested, this becomes specialized work on the order of several days.

Standard Workflow and Turnaround Time for Requested Use

For a general bulk specimen where the specimen preparation method, processing conditions, equipment, and observation/analysis conditions are not specified and the Division designs the workflow, we currently use the following number of working days as a standard budgeting estimate.

• TEM specimen preparation by focused ion beam (FIB): about 2.5 days
• Observation/analysis on JEM-ARM200F: about 1 day
• Total: about 3.5 days per specimen

This is not a guaranteed turnaround time. It can be shortened when processing and observation conditions for a similar specimen have already been established, while specimens that are difficult to process, require reprocessing, need preparation from multiple locations, or require additional observation/analysis will take longer.

Why FIB Specimen Preparation Takes About 2-3 Days

If the sole goal is to obtain an electron-transparent thin specimen, applying a high beam-current condition to the rough-milling step of FIB can sometimes shorten the processing time.

On the other hand, for academic research specimens whose processing conditions have not been established, the specimen’s response to ion irradiation and the degree of processing damage are often not known in advance. Prioritizing processing speed too heavily can result in loss of the target area, processing damage, or specimen deformation, so that a TEM specimen suitable for observation cannot be obtained.

The Division’s equipment usage fees and technical support fees are not success-based; they are charged for the equipment use and technical support actually performed. For this reason, for specimens whose processing conditions have not been established, we prioritize the success rate of specimen preparation over processing speed, so that the fee the user bears is used as effectively as possible.

Users may also specify particular processing conditions. However, even if the specified conditions do not produce the expected specimen, fees for the equipment use and technical support actually performed will still apply.

TEM Specimen Preparation Methods and How to Choose

The TEM specimen preparation method is chosen according to the specimen’s form, material, observation purpose, and the degree of positional/orientation selectivity required. The main methods used and offered at the Division are the dispersion method, the crushing method, electropolishing, ion milling, specimen preparation with the ion slicer, and focused ion beam (FIB).

Dispersion Method (Direct Mounting on Support Film)

For nanoparticle dispersions or powder specimens that can be dispersed in a solvent, the dispersion method – mounting the specimen directly on a support-film TEM grid – can be applied. Among TEM specimen preparation methods, this tends to keep direct costs relatively low.

Typically, the specimen is dispersed in a suitable solvent, the dispersion state is adjusted with ultrasonication if needed, and then a drop is placed on a support-film TEM grid and thoroughly dried before observation. The direct cost is mainly the TEM grid and solvent.

This method suits particle size/shape, dispersion/aggregation state, determining whether a material is crystalline or amorphous, and high-resolution observation without a specified orientation. On the other hand, the position and crystal orientation of particles mounted on the support film generally cannot be chosen. When targeting a specific zone axis, phase, or interface, specimen preparation itself may be low-cost, but searching for the observation area and adjusting crystal orientation on the TEM can take considerable time.

Crushing Method

This method mechanically crushes a bulk specimen and mounts the resulting electron-transparent flakes or fine particles on a support-film TEM grid. Since it requires no dedicated thin-film processing equipment, it can allow simple, low-cost preparation of TEM specimens for some materials and purposes.

However, the sampling location and crystal orientation cannot be specified. Plastic deformation, fracturing, and surface damage caused by crushing may also affect the observation results. For this reason, it may not be suitable when the aim is to evaluate the original bulk microstructure while preserving positional relationships.

Electropolishing

For metals and alloys, setting appropriate electrolyte and polishing conditions makes electropolishing an effective method for producing a relatively wide electron-transparent area at low cost. Labs that continuously handle the same or a similar material system can efficiently prepare many specimens once they establish the electrolyte composition, applied voltage, temperature, and polishing end-point conditions.

The Division’s electropolishing equipment was transferred from a now-closed in-house lab. Because the Division did not previously operate electropolishing as a common-use menu item, know-how on electrolyte and polishing conditions for each material system has not been systematically accumulated as shared-facility knowledge.

In addition, the Division does not have local exhaust equipment (a fume hood) for running electropolishing on an ongoing basis, nor a dedicated environment for consolidated storage/management of chemicals and waste-liquid treatment. For this reason, we currently do not provide comprehensive support for requested specimen preparation with this method; instead, it is basically available for loan use by labs that have their own knowledge of electrolytes, polishing conditions, and chemical management.

Ion Milling

This method irradiates a specimen that has already been pre-thinned by mechanical polishing with an Ar ion beam to form an electron-transparent area. The Division has ion milling instruments including a Gatan PIPS II (B) and a Fischione Model 1010.

It is widely used for TEM specimen preparation of oxides, ceramics, composite materials, and the like, and where processing conditions for a given material are established, it can produce specimens at a lower direct cost than FIB. On the other hand, the specimen normally needs to be thinned sufficiently by mechanical polishing before being loaded into the instrument, and this pre-processing step also requires skill appropriate to the material.

The Division previously provided comprehensive support for requested specimen preparation by ion milling, but because no dedicated technical staff member is currently assigned, we no longer devote resources to ongoing requested specimen preparation by this method. At present, technical support staff mainly operate the instrument as needed to maintain its condition and confirm that it is working properly.

Specimen Preparation with the Ion Slicer

The Division has a JEOL EM-09100IS ion slicer. A feature of the ion slicer is that ion-beam processing can begin from a relatively thick specimen, which makes it especially suited to preparing cross-sectional TEM specimens from bulk materials.

Because processing can start from a thicker state than with ordinary ion milling, it is also effective for brittle materials that are difficult to finish thin by mechanical polishing. Labs that continuously prepare cross-sectional specimens from the same or similar bulk materials can readily standardize specimen dimensions, pre-polishing, mounting method, and ion irradiation conditions, making this method well suited to standardizing and routinizing specimen preparation at the lab level.

As with ion milling, the Division previously provided comprehensive support for requested specimen preparation with the ion slicer, but because no dedicated technical staff member is currently assigned, we no longer devote resources to ongoing requested specimen preparation by this method. At present, technical support staff mainly operate the instrument as needed to maintain its condition and confirm that it is working properly.

Why FIB Is the Standard Method for Requested Specimen Preparation

This does not mean methods other than FIB are technically inferior. When a lab continuously handles the same or a similar material system and has accumulated specimen-preparation conditions and experience in-house, electropolishing, ion milling, and similar methods can be lower-cost and more efficient.

On the other hand, at a shared facility handling specimens with unestablished processing conditions one at a time, repeating pre-processing, optimizing processing conditions, confirming the transparent area by TEM, and additional processing for each material makes it difficult to estimate the required amount of work and time in advance.

FIB offers the following advantages:

• A TEM specimen can be prepared from a specified location
• Processing location and state can be checked using an SEM image as work proceeds
• A target area such as an interface, precipitate, or defect can be selected for thinning
• Even for specimens with unestablished processing conditions, the workflow can be relatively well standardized

For this reason, except for materials that are clearly susceptible to ion-beam damage or nanoparticles for which the dispersion method is suitable, the Division uses FIB as the standard method for requested specimen preparation from bulk specimens whose processing conditions have not been established.

Choosing a TEM/STEM Instrument for Your Observation/Analysis Purpose

The Division operates several TEM/STEM instruments and selects among them according to the observation/analysis purpose. The choice takes into account not just the equipment usage fee, but also the spatial resolution, specimen tilt, electron diffraction, EDS/EELS analysis, and ease of handling required.

Instrument Selection for Specimens with Undetermined Observation Conditions

If you have sufficient experience with the material system and TEM observation, and the required observation method is clear, choosing the instrument that is just sufficient for the purpose can keep usage fees down.

On the other hand, for a requested specimen whose observation target and conditions have not been established, observing first on a general-purpose TEM and then moving to JEM-ARM200F can require re-searching the observation area and re-adjusting conditions each time the instrument changes. For this reason, unless there is a clear reason not to, our standard approach is to use JEM-ARM200F from the start to acquire HAADF-STEM images at low magnification, combine this with STEM-EDS mapping as needed to relate morphology and composition, and then narrow down the target area.

In choosing an instrument, it is important to consider not just the equipment’s hourly rate, but the total working time to obtain the target data, the total cost, the risk of specimen damage, and the reliability of data acquisition.

Self-Use as the Basic Operating Policy

The Division is not a contract-analysis facility that performs measurements on behalf of users exclusively; it operates as a user facility where users themselves operate the equipment to carry out their research. Accordingly, where a user can acquire the necessary skills, self-use is our basic approach.

Self-use offers the following advantages:

• You can use the equipment you need for only as long as you need it
• The researcher who best understands the specimen can choose the observation area
• You can change the next observation/analysis conditions on the spot, depending on the results
• Technical support fees can be kept down
• Continued use accumulates specimen-preparation, observation, and analysis skills and experience within your lab

Especially for research specimens whose observation conditions have not been established, having the researcher directly involved in observation allows on-the-spot decisions about which target phase or area to select and whether additional observation/analysis is needed. Self-use is therefore advantageous not only in terms of cost, but also in obtaining data appropriate to the research purpose.

TEM Training and How We Think About Proficiency

The Division provides standardized skills training and license certification in the basic operations needed to use the shared TEMs safely, without causing equipment trouble, and by following the prescribed procedures on your own.

At the same time, mastering equipment operation is not the same thing as being able to obtain the data your research actually needs.

Actual TEM observation requires selecting the observation area, judging the specimen’s condition, adjusting orientation to a zone axis or two-beam condition, setting imaging, electron diffraction, and STEM conditions, setting EDS/EELS analysis conditions, and then deciding the next observation direction based on the results obtained. Because these depend heavily on the material system and the research purpose, it is difficult to standardize lab-specific observation know-how as common training content.

For this reason, after completing the equipment-operation training, it becomes important to accumulate material-specific observation and analysis experience through attended observation sessions with your own research specimens and continued self-use.

License certification does not certify the ability to observe and analyze any specimen; it certifies that a user can safely operate the shared equipment on their own, within a defined scope.

Safe Use and Upkeep of the Shared TEMs

A TEM is a precision analytical instrument built from a high-voltage power supply, a high-vacuum system, a precision specimen stage, various apertures, a specimen holder, and highly sensitive detectors. A mistaken operation can not only halt the instrument temporarily but also damage the vacuum system, specimen stage, or detectors, resulting in extended downtime.

Past training materials used by the Division illustrate the potential impact of operational accidents on the equipment with examples such as: about ¥3 million for EDS detector damage, about ¥1 million for a deformed specimen holder, tens of thousands to about ¥1 million for aperture/vacuum-system damage, and a possible ¥5-10 million for burn-in of a camera detector.

These figures are not current repair estimates or amounts that would be charged to a user; they are examples used in past skills training to explain the scale of impact equipment damage can have. Actual handling of failures and any associated costs are determined case by case, based on the cause, the circumstances, and applicable regulations.

For this reason, our skills training covers not only operating procedures but also in-house operating rules, specimen conditions, checking the vacuum state, inserting/withdrawing the specimen holder, protecting the detectors, and how to respond to abnormal situations.

How Equipment Usage Fees Are Set for a Shared Facility

The Division’s equipment usage fees are set based on the university’s lending/fee-calculation standards, using the costs required to maintain and operate the equipment and an estimated number of usage hours as the basis.

Conceptually, this can be expressed as unit usage cost ≈ annual maintenance/operating cost ÷ estimated usage hours.

Annual maintenance/operating costs include maintenance contracts, repairs, electricity, cooling water, air conditioning, and similar items. The unit cost also varies depending on how the annual usage hours are estimated: the same maintenance cost yields a different unit price depending on whether the calculation is based closer to the theoretical maximum available hours, actual operating hours, or billable hours.

The Division uses an estimated usage time roughly midway between billable hours and actual operating hours, and does not recover the full cost of maintenance and operation through equipment usage fees alone. Nor is the fee set to include a profit margin.

Where fees differ from other facilities, this can reflect not only equipment prices but also differences in how maintenance costs are borne, institutional subsidies, and the method used to estimate usage hours. For detailed calculation grounds and financial figures, please refer to the Division’s published materials.

How Technical Support Fees Are Determined for Requested Use

The Division operates on the basis of self-use, and its staffing is not structured around requested analysis as the main business. In self-use, the user performs equipment operation, searches for observation areas, and judges observation/analysis conditions, so staff time is not continuously tied up in these tasks. Requested specimen preparation and requested observation/analysis, on the other hand, require the assigned staff member to secure dedicated working time for each case.

The technical support fee is set based on the idea of charging, roughly, the portion of hourly staff labor cost corresponding to the time the assigned staff member’s schedule is committed to the requested work. Whereas the equipment usage fee relates to the cost of maintaining and operating the equipment, the technical support fee has the character of a cost for securing human resources that would not normally be needed for self-use.

At present, the Division has no dedicated technical staff member assigned, and faculty must also prioritize equipment management and maintaining the shared-use environment. If requested observation and analysis were accepted free of charge on an ongoing basis under this staffing, we could not handle every request and would be forced to select which cases to accept, which would make fair shared use difficult. For this reason, requested use and technical support are handled mainly under the CINTS/ARIM support framework, with a set technical support fee corresponding to the scope of support provided.

For requested specimen preparation by FIB, even during automated processing, checking the processing state, judging progress, responding to abnormalities, and changing conditions as needed are all required, and the assigned staff member cannot fully step away from the case to other work. For this reason, in principle, the Division counts the FIB equipment usage time and the technical support time as the same duration for requested use.

On the other hand, when a self-use user normally operates the equipment themselves and requests technical support only for a specific step, only the time actually spent providing support is counted as technical support time, so equipment usage time and technical support time do not necessarily match.

How Joint Research Relates to Requested Use

TEM observation and analysis can also be carried out as joint research, but joint research is not a fee scheme that substitutes for requested analysis.

Whether to accept a joint research proposal is decided case by case by the faculty member, taking into account the research content, its academic significance, the faculty member’s expertise, and the balance with their research, education, and equipment-management duties. Unlike ordinary shared-facility use, not every case that meets certain conditions is automatically accepted.

Equipment usage fees and the like also apply in principle even for joint research. The main difference from ordinary requested use is that, beyond equipment operation and data acquisition, the faculty member is involved as a co-researcher in the research plan, the observation/analysis policy, data analysis, and the academic interpretation of the results.

ARIM/CINTS Shared-Use Support and External Use

External use also requires equipment operating time and staff time, and it does use a portion of the shared facility’s finite usage capacity. At the same time, when evaluating the Division’s shared-use system, it is not appropriate to consider the equipment time occupied by external use in isolation.

The Division’s core equipment includes instruments installed through ARIM and its predecessor projects. Staff assigned under the ARIM/CINTS project also provide the technical support, and revenue from equipment usage fees and technical support fees contributes, as a result, to the stable maintenance and operation of the shared facility as a whole.

Accordingly, when considering the impact of external use, the relevant comparison is not “the current equipment, staffing, and funding maintained while only external use is removed,” but rather “what the situation would be without the equipment, staffing, and funding support provided through ARIM/CINTS.”

The Division publishes information on the funding for equipment and on its finances. Please refer to the published materials for details.

Ways to Reduce Your Usage Cost

The key to reducing usage cost is not simply comparing the per-hour rate of different instruments, but reducing the total amount of specimen preparation, equipment use, and technical support needed to obtain the target data.

1. Make Use of Self-Use

When the user handles equipment operation, choice of observation area, and observation/analysis condition judgments, technical support fees can be kept down and the equipment can be used only for the time actually needed. Because the researcher can judge the observation results on the spot, this is advantageous not only in terms of cost but also for the speed of research decision-making.

2. Build Up Specimen-Preparation Conditions Within Your Own Lab

When continuously handling the same or a similar material, it is effective to establish specimen-preparation conditions – for dispersion, mechanical polishing, electropolishing, ion milling, and so on – within your own lab and accumulate them as a reproducible procedure. If specimen preparation can be done in-house, you can concentrate your use of the shared facility on the observation/analysis steps you actually need it for.

3. Clarify the Purpose of Observation/Analysis

Making your research question concrete when making a request can reduce time spent searching observation areas and performing unnecessary analysis. For example, it helps to clarify what information you need in specific terms, such as “is there a compositional difference at this interface” or “is this particle crystalline” or “I want to confirm the precipitation morphology of a specific phase.”

4. Standardize Conditions for the Same Material System

Continuously handling similar specimens allows you to accumulate FIB processing conditions, criteria for selecting observation areas, methods for adjusting crystal orientation, imaging conditions, and EDS/EELS analysis conditions. When handling multiple specimens, establishing the specimen-preparation and observation conditions on a representative specimen first, and then applying the same conditions to the rest, can reduce trial and error.

5. Choose an Instrument That Is Adequate for the Purpose

If you have sufficient experience with the material system and observation method, choosing among JEM-2100plus, JEM-2000EXII, EM-002B, and similar instruments as appropriate can sometimes let you obtain the data you need without using JEM-ARM200F. On the other hand, for a requested specimen whose observation conditions have not been established, trying instruments in order from the lowest usage fee does not necessarily reduce the total cost.

6. Check Available Support Programs

Tohoku University has support programs for shared-facility use aimed at, among others, early-career researchers. Since the content and eligibility of such programs can change, please check the latest program information when considering use.

For labs that use TEM on an ongoing basis, building up specimen-preparation and observation/analysis skills in-house, and using the shared facility only for the steps that are truly needed, is what reduces total cost.
Beyond fees, the Division recommends self-use wherever possible, from the standpoint of the quality of the researcher’s own judgment and the accumulation of skills within your lab.

Before You Contact Us

It is fine to contact us even if you have not yet decided on a specimen-preparation method or which instrument to use.

When you do, please let us know, as far as possible:

• What you want to find out from your research
• What kind of specimen it is
• What location, phase, or interface you want to observe
• What specimen-preparation/observation steps your lab can carry out
• Any known processing conditions or past observation results

Based on this information, we will consider the combination of specimen-preparation method, instrument, and self-use/attended support/requested use that best fits your case.

Rather than choosing the cheapest instrument, judge by the total amount of work and total cost needed to obtain the data you want.

For related information, please also see our FAQ, “TEM Observation, Sample Preparation, and Usage Fees: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).”

※ This post was created by an AI agent.

We have experimentally launched a chatbot (AEM Chatbot Beta) on the official website of the Division of Analytical Electron Microscopy, IMR (https://www.aem.imr.tohoku.ac.jp/) to support website navigation and user inquiries.

■ Overview
A chat widget has been installed at the bottom right corner of the website, allowing users to ask questions interactively regarding our equipment, facility usage, and procedures.

■ Details
– Location: Chat widget icon at the bottom right corner of the screen (“AEM Chatbot β”)
– Main Features & Modes:
– Site Information Mode: Answers inquiries strictly based on published content from the AEM official website and manuals.
– General Knowledge Mode: Answers general scientific and technical questions regarding electron microscopy and materials analysis.
– Advice Mode: Provides recommendations on equipment selection and observation methods based on your analysis goals and sample conditions.
– Guide Characters: Allows selecting and switching between different guide characters.

■ Notes & Cautions (Beta / Experimental Release)
– This service is currently provided as a Beta version for experimental purposes.
– Please note that frequent updates, behavior adjustments, or temporary service interruptions may occur without prior notice as we continue testing and refining the system.
– Responses are generated using AI and may not always guarantee complete or fully accurate information. For exact specifications, current operational status, or formal application procedures, please refer to the relevant pages on this website or contact our office directly.
– Please refrain from entering confidential or personally identifiable information.

■ Contact
Division of Analytical Electron Microscopy, IMR

This guide explains how to set up and use your Common Login Account (Single Sign-On / SSO) to securely access various services provided by the Division of Analytical Electron Microscopy, IMR, and the Analytical Research Core for Advanced Materials (ARCAM).

[Important Notice]
This Common Login Account is unrelated to our Equipment Reservation System (https://www.aem.imr.tohoku.ac.jp/reserve/).
For equipment reservations and user applications, please continue to use the Reservation System as usual.

1. Account Application

If you do not yet have a Common Login Account, please submit an application from the following page:

• Application Guide: About Common Login Account Application

*For Existing FTP/NAS Users:
Existing FTP/NAS user accounts are already registered in the system. However, to use them as Common Login accounts, you must activate your account by performing an initial password reset following the steps below.

2. Initial Setup: Password Reset and Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

Upon your first login, please register your permanent password and set up Two-Factor Authentication (Email OTP) via the password reset feature.

Step 1: Access the Common Login Management Site

Navigate to the Common Login management portal (Keycloak):

• Account Management URL: https://aem-www.imr.tohoku.ac.jp/keycloak/realms/aem/account/

Step 2: Initiate Password Reset

On the login screen, click “Forgot Password?”.

Step 3: Enter Your Registered Email Address

Enter your registered Email address (or username) and click “Submit”.

A confirmation message will appear, and a password reset link will be sent to your email.

Step 4: Check Your Email

Open the email you received and click the Password Reset Link provided in the message.

Step 5: Verify Email Address (if prompted)

If a screen asking for email verification appears, click the verification link in the confirmation email (this may be skipped if pre-verified by administrators).

Step 6: Set Your New Password

Enter your new password and click “Update” (or Submit).

Step 7: Configure Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

The 2FA method selection screen will appear. For security reasons, 2FA setup cannot be skipped.

Here, select standard “Email Authentication” and click “Enable Email Authentication”.

*Note: In addition to email authentication, you can also register Authenticator Apps (OTP) or Passkeys. Detailed setup guides for OTP and Passkeys will be introduced on a separate page.

A notification will appear indicating that a verification email has been dispatched.

Step 8: Enter One-Time Access Code

Check your email inbox for the Access Code (One-Time Passcode).

Return to the browser form, enter the code, and click “Confirm” (or Sign In).

Step 9: Setup Completed

Once password update and 2FA configuration are complete, the confirmation screen will be displayed.

*If an error occurs due to timeout:
If the session expires before entering the code, you can simply log in using the newly updated password to complete the 2FA configuration.

3. Account Management (Login, Settings, and Sign-out)

After completing the initial setup, you can manage your account information, update passwords, and configure security settings at any time via the Common Login portal.

Login Procedure

Enter your username (or email) and password to sign in.

A 2FA one-time passcode will be sent to your email.

Enter the code and click “Sign In”.

Personal Account Page & Sign-out

Upon signing in, your account dashboard is displayed where you can review your personal profile and security configurations.

When finished, click “Sign Out” from the top-right user menu.

You will be redirected back to the login screen upon successful sign-out.

4. Service Usage Example: Accessing Connected Services

Here is an example of accessing connected services (such as remote instrument screen streaming) using your Common Login Account.

Step 1: Select Service from AEM Website

From the top navigation bar of the AEM website, open the “Common Login” menu and choose the desired service.

Step 2: Sign In via Common Authentication

Enter your username and password on the service login page.

Enter the 2FA access code received via email to proceed.

Step 3: View Service Dashboard

Once authenticated, the service interface will open (the example below shows the remote instrument screen streaming system):

• Instrument List: Displays all available equipment.
• Screen Channel List: Select the display channel for the target instrument (e.g., JEM-ARM200F STEM corrector model).
• Live Streaming View: Displays the instrument control interface (TEM Center, etc.) in real time.

During an inspection around 8:00 AM on Saturday, August 8, 2026, we confirmed that two Transmission Electron Microscopes (TEMs) in Room 1-105 had completely shut down, along with errors occurring on several other instruments.

■ Summary & Affected Equipment
– **Occurred Around**: Saturday, August 8, 2026, approx. 4:00 AM (based on error log analysis)
– **Affected Instruments**:
– Two TEMs in Room 1-105 (Complete shutdown)
– Other instruments without UPS or CVCF protection (PC resets, error displays, etc.)
– *Note: The Sputter Ion Pump (SIP) on 002B is currently non-operational. We are monitoring the condition, and replacement is planned within the year.*

■ Cause
While the cause has not been definitively confirmed, it is presumed to be temporary abnormal voltage or a momentary power outage caused by frequent lightning strikes recorded in Sendai City early in the morning on August 8.

■ Current Status & Next Steps
– Restart of cooling water systems and vacuum pumps has been completed.
– As the facility is currently in summer recess until Monday, August 17, full inspection and operational checks will be conducted after the break (starting Tuesday, August 18).

■ Important Notice for Users
Due to sudden forced shutdowns, instrument settings may have changed, or minor malfunctions may occur.
Depending on the inspection results, machine time schedules after the holiday period may be affected or delayed. We kindly ask for your understanding in advance.

Further updates regarding recovery and machine time impact will be posted as soon as status checks are finalized.

■ Contact
Division of Analytical Electron Microscopy, ARCAM, IMR, Tohoku University

■ Overview
The Diamond Wire Saw, which had been rendered practically unusable due to abrasive wear on the wire, has been restored to service following a wire replacement completed today.

■ Details
– Equipment: Diamond Wire Saw
– Action Taken: Replacement of worn diamond wire
– Date of Restoration: August 10, 2026
– Status: Available for use

We apologize for the inconvenience caused during this period.

■ Inquiries
Division of Analytical Electron Microscopy, IMR

The Division of Analytical Electron Microscopy, IMR is trialing a new feature called "Equipment Screen Streaming," which lets you view the control PC screens of experimental equipment in real time through your web browser. Even when you are away from the equipment room, you can check the current status of an instrument.

This feature only lets you view the screens; it does not allow you to remotely operate the equipment. It is intended to support normal, on-site use of the equipment, not to replace it.

Useful in Situations Like These

• Check on a long measurement from off-site if you need to step away for a while
• Check whether ion milling has opened a hole, without walking over to the instrument
• Monitor the progress of time-consuming analyses such as EDS mapping
• Reduce the number of times you need to physically check on the equipment
• Administrators can also check equipment status remotely (e.g., while waiting for vacuum)

Example Screens

Here is what you actually see in your browser. The service can also be viewed from a smartphone.

Currently Supported Equipment

The following equipment is currently supported:

• TEM (Transmission Electron Microscope)
• FIB (Focused Ion Beam system)
• XRD (X-ray Diffractometer)
• PIPS II (ion milling)
• Ion slicer

The list of supported equipment may change in the future. Please contact the Division for details.

How to Access

Access the service at the URL below using your Division Shared Login account.

URL: https://aem-www.imr.tohoku.ac.jp/stream/

Viewing each instrument requires permission, which is set by that instrument’s administrator. If you would like to view an instrument’s screen, please contact that instrument’s administrator. Permission is normally granted for the dates of your reservation for that instrument. If you do not yet have a Shared Login account, please apply via the page below.

Shared Login for the Division of Analytical Electron Microscopy, IMR

At the same time, some researchers genuinely need to observe ferromagnetic samples for their work, yet cannot obtain support elsewhere, and consult the Division of Analytical Electron Microscopy, IMR as a result. We have a track record of accommodating samples brought to us under these circumstances.

Provided that appropriate precautions and preparation are in place, we consider ferromagnetic material observation to be feasible. The risk of instrument damage cannot be eliminated entirely, but some experiments must be carried out regardless. As a shared facility, we believe our role is not to refuse such requests outright on the grounds of risk, but to build a framework that allows us to respond once the risk is properly understood.

This does not mean unconditional acceptance, however. Users must fully understand the following information and complete the required preparation and disclosure beforehand.

1. Potential Problems

The objective lens of a TEM generates a strong magnetic field of roughly 2 T at the sample position. A ferromagnetic sample becomes magnetized within this field, which can lead to the following problems.

• The sample moves, tilts, or deforms under magnetic force
• A sample that is not firmly mounted detaches from the holder
• Magnetic force pulls the sample so that the holder’s Y-tilt drifts away from the set value
• Brittle samples can be damaged by the magnetic force itself, or by the impact of detachment
• A detached sample can be magnetically drawn to and collide with the objective lens or other components, remaining attached
• Magnetic material lodged there disturbs the objective lens field distribution, degrading performance (e.g., resolution)
• Adjusting focus (changing the excitation current) also changes the magnetic force on the sample, which can cause further movement

The photograph below shows an actual case in which a detached sample became magnetically lodged on the pole piece. The sample was shattered by the impact of the collision.

2. Underlying Cause

The underlying cause is magnetization of the sample by the strong objective lens field. Since the degree of magnetization is roughly proportional to sample volume, the magnitude of the effect is largely determined by how much sample volume is introduced.

3. Measures to Reduce the Effect

(1) Reduce sample volume

Even for the same material, the effective volume and degree of impact vary considerably depending on the preparation method.

If safety is the priority, FIB preparation is recommended. If bulk samples are essential for the research, they will be considered on a case-by-case basis (see the EM-002B initial screening procedure below).

Melt-spun ribbons and similar samples, which are easy to prepare and are often observed as-is, also require caution when brittle, since the risk of damage or detachment from magnetic force increases accordingly.

For crushed/powder samples containing relatively large residual particles, the particles themselves can move under the objective lens field. For samples with a certain degree of magnetization, embedding in resin followed by thinning is effective for suppressing this effective mobility.

As a rough guideline for bulk samples, for example with bulk Fe, thinning to a maximum thickness of around 20 μm is advisable. Even after thinning, however, insufficient mounting on the holder still leaves a risk of detachment, falling, and adhesion inside the column.

(2) Screening before insertion

With the sample mounted on the holder, bring a neodymium magnet close to it before TEM insertion and check its behavior. If it is readily attracted to the magnet, a stronger effect can be expected inside the TEM (2 T).

(3) Operation during insertion

The larger the sample movement within the magnetic field, the stronger the magnetic force exerted on it. Inserting the holder in LOWMAG mode (objective lens OFF) reduces this effect.

4. Undetected Detachment: A Cautionary Case

Sample detachment is not always obvious.

In one documented case, a user who found no sample mounted at the start of TEM observation assumed they had forgotten to attach it, and continued the experiment after mounting a new sample. In fact, the original sample had already detached due to magnetic force at the time of the first insertion.

Because of this misunderstanding, the detachment was never reported and the experiment continued. It was only discovered later, during separate maintenance work, that a large sample fragment had become lodged on the pole piece — and that this was the cause of previously unexplained instability in lens performance.

If a mounted sample cannot be confirmed during observation of a magnetic sample, consider magnetic detachment — not a forgotten mounting step — as the primary possibility, and always report it rather than resolving it on your own.

5. Runaway Y-Tilt and Risk of Instrument Damage

Because a ferromagnetic sample tends to align its long axis with the magnetic field direction, the Y-tilt can increase unintentionally. When this happens, the tilt angle shown on the TEM display no longer matches the actual tilt angle.

When the holder is withdrawn, the displayed stage position resets to 0°, but the stage may remain physically tilted internally.

• On TEMs with a large pole piece gap: after the holder is withdrawn, the sample can remain in a tilted state even though the display still reads 0°.
• On high-resolution TEMs with a small gap: during withdrawal, the stage contacts the objective lens, and this contact forcibly resets the tilt. Because this occurs during the withdrawal motion itself, the user has no way of noticing it.

This contact can damage the objective lens itself, dislodge the pole piece cap, or deform the objective aperture inserted within the gap through contact.

The system is designed to stop motion via a hard limit switch upon physical contact between the holder and the column, but detection is not always fast enough. This is because the underlying situation — the sample stage being displaced to an unexpected position due to the magnetic field — is not something the instrument’s design anticipates. In addition, because the Y-axis is forced by the magnetic field to a tilt angle it would not normally reach, the tilt mechanism itself can sometimes bind.

6. Our Division’s Policy

A significant number of institutions decline, as a matter of policy, to accept ferromagnetic samples for observation. This is an understandable position from the standpoint of protecting equipment, but our Division takes the position that we will respond “given appropriate preparation.” We therefore do not prohibit ferromagnetic sample observation, but we require the following as mandatory conditions.

• Prior disclosure, discussion, and preparation are always required.
• If observation is carried out without this, and damage results, we will charge the full cost of repair.

Even a simple case of sample detachment can require raising the column to access the interior of the objective lens, followed by realignment, potentially resulting in a cost of roughly 2 million yen and downtime of a month or more, including securing a manufacturer’s engineer.

For bulk ferromagnetic samples (prepared by electropolishing, ion milling, ion slicing, etc.) observed at our Division, the following procedure applies.

1. The initial observation must always be performed on the EM-002B. Because the EM-002B’s pole piece is replaceable, it can be accessed without raising the column, allowing comparatively low-cost, short-duration recovery in the event of an accident.
2. Only samples confirmed to observe without problems on the EM-002B will be approved for use on other TEMs.

Note, however, that the EM-002B itself cannot be used without limit. Being an aging instrument, frequent venting of the column (breaking vacuum) shortens its service life. Manufacturer support has also already ended, so any failure requires in-house repair by staff. Screening on the EM-002B should therefore also be planned carefully rather than performed casually.

Summary

In TEM observation of ferromagnetic materials, magnetization caused by the objective lens field can be the source of a wide range of problems, from sample damage and detachment to damage to the instrument itself. The key points are as follows.

• Reduce sample volume wherever possible, for example through FIB preparation
• Screen the sample with a neodymium magnet before insertion
• Insert the holder in LOWMAG mode
• If a mounted sample cannot be confirmed, suspect magnetic detachment rather than a forgotten mounting step
• For bulk ferromagnetic samples, prior disclosure is mandatory, followed by initial screening on the EM-002B

For questions or advance consultation, please contact the Division of Analytical Electron Microscopy, IMR.

Original post date (Japanese version): March 31, 2015

A vacuum gauge has been installed on the column of the JEM-2000EXII (allowing monitoring of the vacuum level when loading/unloading the specimen holder).

*This post was created by an AI agent.