Two of the world’s leading imaging equipment suppliers have joined forces to bring a new benchtop SEM into the market.

Nikon and JEOL have teamed up to create a benchtop SEM, NeoScope JCM-5000, that is both user-friendly and economical. Image: JEOL

NeoScope, an advanced benchtop scanning electron microscope (SEM), was introduced in March at the 2008 Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy (Pittcon) in New Orleans, La. It is the offspring of a joint collaboration between Nikon Instruments, Melville, N.Y., and JEOL USA, Peabody, Mass.

“The NeoScope partnership is a natural progression for both companies,” says Peter Genovese, JEOL USA VP and general manager of sales. “We’ve found a natural platform where both companies meet.”

Michael Metzger, general manager of sales and marketing at Nikon, concurs. “We’re drawing from our respective expertise in optical and electron microscopy and offering the optical microscope user an entirely new tool.”

What makes the difference?

The NeoScope is targeted to the bioscience research and industrial inspection communities, and according to JEOL, NeoScope economically complements both optical microscopes and traditional SEMs. In addition, The NeoScope JCM-5000 offers higher magnificaiton without sacrificing depth of focus.

Some of NeoScope's features include the ability to operate in both low and high vacuum modes, secondary electron and back-scattered electron imaging, and three selectable accelerating voltages of 5, 10, and 15 kV.

There are three settings for accelerating voltage suitable for a range of applications, all of which can be programmed in pre-stored parameter files that have both manual and automatic controls. NeoScope’s specimen stage accommodates samples up to 50 mm thick to ensure that even larger samples get a clear crisp image.

As easy to use as a camera

The NeoScope makes using a high-resolution SEM as easy as using a digital camera with both manual and automatic capabilities. Image: Nikon

NeoScope’s simplicity makes it easy to use by a trained electron microscopist or a lab technician. This can be attributed to its automatic capabilities. With auto focus, auto contrast, and auto brightness controls, it is as easy to use as a digital camera.

In addition, when using the NeoScope, sample preparation is a thing of the past. There is no need to prepare samples, such as coating or drying, as conductive and non-conductive samples are easily and quickly loaded and imaged in less than three minutes.

Another attribute is that its magnification range of 10x to 20,000x does not require any adjustment or change to its lenses. The image resolution goes as low as 5 nm, and it has a depth of field unmatched by optical microscopes.

Both Nikon and JEOL believe NeoScope will accelerate the pace of R&D in the life sciences, forensics, and failure analysis of manufacturing materials.

—Adria Nieswand