Discussion: DIY SEM/FIB

[Heath Matlock]

There are quite a few plans on building your own STM on the web, have
been for awhile it seems, but there's a distinct lack of any reference
to building a scanning electron microscope or focused ion beam system
on the cheap. Discuss and link if possible please.

--
Heath Matlock
+1 256 274 4225

[Bryan Bishop]

On Tue, Oct 20, 2009 at 9:21 PM, J. S. John wrote:

> On Tue, Oct 20, 2009 at 9:45 PM, Heath Matlock wrote:
>> There are quite a few plans on building your own STM on the web, have
>> been for awhile it seems, but there's a distinct lack of any reference
>> to building a scanning electron microscope or focused ion beam system
>> on the cheap. Discuss and link if possible please.
>

> That's true. I been looking into atomic force microscopy in particular
> and found some articles on how to make one. The problem I ran into was
> learning about the probes and cantilever system. I think the probe
> tips require a lot of precision.  So I put the idea aside for now
> until winter break.

You don't need to do atoms immediately with your AFM setup. How about
trying to nail down millimeter and then micrometer textures? This way,
you can visually confirm if the data that you're seeing matches what
you see through your trusty microscope, or in the case of millimeter
scale scans, what you see through your crusty eyes.

- Bryan
http://heybryan.org/
1 512 203 0507

[Eugen Leitl]

On Wed, Oct 21, 2009 at 01:45:58AM +0000, Heath Matlock wrote:
>
> There are quite a few plans on building your own STM on the web, have
> been for awhile it seems, but there's a distinct lack of any reference
> to building a scanning electron microscope or focused ion beam system
> on the cheap. Discuss and link if possible please.

Well, it starts with an (U)HV chamber, or, rather, the absence thereof.
You need at least a pre-vacuum pump, an oil diffusion pump (preferrably,
with a cryotrap), or a turbovac.

I know of a precisely one person who keeps such in the house in working
condition. I think it was much easier when Scientific American actually
published challenging designs amateurs did (1960s/1970s). In case you
have a decent library, I recommend you sample those.

--
Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org
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