Re: Which SEM??

On 31 Ekim, 02:38, Gary G <see.signature@bottom> wrote:
On Thu, 30 Oct 2008 10:01:31 -0700 (PDT), bireroz...@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
On Oct 23, 5:06 am, Gary G <see.signature@bottom> wrote:
On Fri, 17 Oct 2008 00:29:58 -0700 (PDT), bireroz...@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
Greetings,

We are considering buying a high-end SEM for a central lab which will
study materials, both conducting and non-conducting. I am wondering
about individual experiences regarding the microscope performances and
company support. I am inclined to think the comparable products of
FEI, JEOL, Zeiss etc are all  very good indeed. Furthermore the users
of a certain product are almost always quite satisfied. So, if there
are experienced users who can provide comparisons, I'd appreciate it.

Best Regards

OzgurBirer

Re-name this to "why bother."

If such a big decision is to be made and the question is asked and
answered, why is there no response?  

I can only conclude that these types of postings are rather useless.
They are for this topic, random.  Go away.  There are other venues..
Figure it out for yourself.

Kiss French.  Drink California.

gary at gaugler dot com

Yes, it is a big decision and I am in no hurry. Therefore, before you
start spewing meaningless remarks, you should exercise a little self-
control. As I mentioned in the original message, it is for a central
lab where several researchers and students work. Therefore, the
possibility of  ferrous materials cannot be completely ruled out. As
for the resolution, thank you very much, I know how to read a catalog
page. I simply asked for personal experiences...

Gosh!, some people really think the world rotates around them.

First off, gmail does not elicit much credibility from me.

If you have read the catalogs and data sheets, why not put out a table
of pros and cons?  Personal experiences are exactly that--personal.
If you want to delve into technical aspects, then ask for that.
Otherwise, personal details are trivia.  I'm not convinced that you
have a clue about the minutae of one tool versus the other.  If this
is so, then keep an open mind about the possibilities.  Otherwise,
tell us about what you know at this point and where you wish to go.

IMO, you need to be more specific about your spectrum of specimens.
One or the other could tilt the decision one way or the other.  I do
not work for any makers.  Therefore, I am quite open to options.  This
is what I think you seek.  So...be more specific about your
requirements.  A formal Statement of Requirements or SOW would go a
long way towards a satisfactory conclusion.

Kiss French.  Drink California.

gary at gaugler dot com

Thank you Gary for your message.

Yes, I have read the catalogs and compared the high end products from
FEI, Zeiss and JEOL. "High end"=Field emission gun+high pressure models
+3rd party attachments i.e. EDX, EBSD. They all have comparable
resolutions (1.0 nm v. 1.2 nm, yeah I know, 20% on paper BUT...is it
worth it?), low kV imaging capability, attachments and detectors. They
claim they have "special" detectors, but it is the same modified
detector with comparable capacity. The only significant difference I
realized was the cold v. hot field emission gun among the competitors
and extra charge compensation, which may not be essential since
satisfactory imaging of non-conducting specimen is possible without
this option as well. After having thought the products LOOK very
similar, I decided to ask for personal experiences hoping that someone
point out one model of one brand is actually under-performing etc. or
one particular model is really a work horse. Different models of the
same company may even perform differently.

As for the range of specimen, it is difficult to say. There are
material scientists and engineers in the facility so, polymers, thin
films, nanoparticles, magnetic nanoparticles, metals, are all
possible. There will be visitors, who knows what they will want to
bring? One thing we know for sure that we will not allow biological
specimen into a 700,000 Euro microscope.

So as you can see, wide range of specimen and -at least on paper-
similar products was my motivation to write here to ask for personal
experience, of course keeping in mind that they would be "personal".

Ozgur
.