Quality Control / Assurance
Manufacturing can be a complicated and problematic endeavor, especially in high technology or specialized industries. Microscopy offers a host of tools to investigate a number of issues pertaining to maintaining quality and verifying proper manufacturing. Checking sizes, thicknesses, and the composition of individual materials in a multi-part product or item can easily be done, sometimes non-destructively. Additionally, contaminants, inclusions and alteration artifacts of your product can be investigated. Failures, supply chain changes, variations in vendors, and vetting new manufacturing processes are all types of applications our skilled analysts can help you with.
Elemental Mapping
By overlaying the EDS elemental data on the corresponding SEM image, our new EDS detectors can rapidly produce vivid color elemental maps. The colors on the map represent the elemental make-up of the imaged area. This allows one to quickly and easily interpret the components present in the sample. Save a thousand words and use one of these pictures in your next project.
Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS)
The EDS detector identifies the elements within a sample while it is being examined with a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). This ability allows an analyst to determine the elemental make-up of minute particles in a matter or seconds. EDS has an almost unlimited number of applications and makes the SEM the most powerful and versatile analytical tool around today. When you need to know what’s in your sample, give us a call.
Particle Size Analysis (PSA)
The diameter, perimeter, shape and aggregation patterning of particles are often of interest with manufactured or naturally occurring materials. Our PSA method is useful to measure and document the morphology and distribution of a sample. Whether you have particles, pores or film coatings, we can accommodate your project needs.
Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)
SEM allows for high magnification surface examinations of a wide variety of samples. Providing brilliant resolution as well as incredible depth of field, the SEM, especially when combined with EDS, is often considered the most powerful analytical tool of our time. Let us show you why.
Unknown Materials ID
Useful when you have a solid, liquid, gel, powder, fiber, or multiphase material of unknown origin that needs to be identified. By using a combination of microscopy techniques and in-house methods we are able to categorize your sample if not identify it specifically. Let us take the “un” out of your unknown.
X-Ray Imaging (Industrial)
X-ray imaging allows us to look inside of a device without opening it up. This real-time nondestructive inspection technique can be used on packaged electronic devices to one of a kind ancient artifacts. With rapid image acquisition and high sample throughput, X-ray imaging is particularly useful for sample screening and quality control issues. It is also often the first step in failure analysis and polished cross section projects.