[3dem] Contamination rates

[Ruben Diaz-Avalos]

Hello everyone,

I am quite interested in knowing if people have carried out measurements of contamination rates for different microscopes, and what are the results of their measurements, to find out how the different instruments fare in this test. At the NYSBC we have both JEOL and FEI instruments, and we measure significantly different contamination rates between the two brands, therefore I would like to know if we are observing a common trend.

By contamination rate in this case, I mean the rate of accumulation of water on the grid's surface per hour (in nanometers per hour). A low contamination rate obviously is very desirable, since only then a sample can be used for a long session of data collection.

Cheers!

Ruben.

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Ruben Diaz-Avalos, Ph.D.,
Technical Director,
New York Structural Biology Center,
89 Convent Ave. at 133rd St.,
New York, NY 10027
tel: (212)939-0660 x 529
cell:(646)300-1453

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