Facility Highlight: Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam – Deutsches GeoForschungs Zentrum

GFZ Electron Microscopy Facility:
A Hub for Cutting-Edge Earth and Material Science Research

The GFZ Electron Microscopy (EM) facility in Potsdam has been at the forefront of research in Earth and environmental sciences, physics, and chemistry in Germany for over two decades. Recently, the facility underwent a significant upgrade in state-of-the-art focused ion beam and scanning and transmission electron microscopes.

Infrastructure Overview

The GFZ EM facility boasts a range of advanced electron microscopes, including the new ThermoFisher Themis Z 60-300, a monochromated, aberration-corrected (scanning) transmission electron microscope (STEM) designed for material science. This facility provides access to cutting-edge electron microscopes, facilitating various workflows for structural, crystallographic, and chemical imaging in both two and three dimensions.

State-of-the-art Equipment

• ThermoFisher Themis Z 60-300: A monochromated, aberration-corrected STEM with a 0.6 Angstrom resolution, equipped with a fast CMOS camera, SuperX EDS detector, and Gatan Imaging Filter for high-resolution chemical mapping and in situ experiments.
• Tecnai F20 G2 X-Twin FEG TEM: A TEM featuring a GIF Tridium for EELS, an EDX spectrometer, and a chemical map resolution of approximately one nanometer.
• FEI Quanta 3D FEG: A dual-beam SEM with high, low, and ambient vacuum modes, capable of analyzing dry inorganic and hydrated biological samples, with EBSD and optional EDS detectors.
• FEI Helios G4 Dual-Beam: A dual-beam SEM combining Elstar electron column with high-current UC+ technology for high-resolution imaging and TEM specimen preparation.
• Zeiss Ultra Plus: A field-emission SEM equipped with various detectors for high-resolution imaging, material contrast, and elemental analysis.

Services offered at GFZ:

The GFZ EM facility supports a broad spectrum of services, emphasizing high-resolution electron microscopy-based analytics and sample preparation techniques. These include:

• FIB-SEM-based sample preparation and tomography: For detailed structural analysis.
• Automated Mineralogy: High-throughput mineral identification and quantification.
• EBSD Analysis: Automated analysis for crystal orientation mapping.
• Cathodoluminescence Imaging: For studying optical properties of minerals and structural defects.
• Crystallographic and Chemical Analysis: Nanometer-scale analysis using TEM.
• Geo-Microbiological Sample Preparation: Fixing, staining, and preparing samples for microbial studies.

The GFZ Electron Microscopy Facility stands as a pivotal resource for researchers aiming to leverage high-precision electron microscopy for groundbreaking studies in Earth and material sciences.