High Performance SEM Helps Drive NZ Towards a Smart, Green Future

Plant & Food Research Rangahau Ahumāra Kai is a New Zealand Government-owned research institute on a mission to improve the way food is grown, harvested, prepared, and shared.  The microscopy and imaging team leverages electron microscopy as a pivotal technology in their research. 

The existing electron microscopy capabilities have been improved with the installation of a TESCAN CLARA Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) with STEM (Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope) and EDS (Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy) detectors in their Microscope Facility in Auckland. This new instrument has consolidated all their electron microscopy requirements into a single instrument and opened new possibilities.

The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research, Microscopy and Imaging team.
Left to right: Ian Hallett, Ria Rebstock, Andrew Chan, and Nicola Shaw.

The TESCAN CLARA is a field-emission ultra high-resolution SEM that is designed to image conductive, non-conductive, and magnetic samples, making it ideally suited to imaging and analysis of a wide variety of materials. Their system specifically came equipped with cryogenic and variable pressure imaging capabilities along with EDS for elemental analysis and mapping.

Find out more about TESCAN CLARA - Field-Free Analytical UHR-SEM

When asked about the new instrument, the Microscopy and Imaging Team Leader said,

“When we decided to replace our aging SEM and TEM, the TESCAN CLARA with STEM detector ticked all the boxes. The increase in SEM resolution allows us to easily observe structures and answer questions we couldn’t previously. Using TESCAN’s BrightBeam^TM column and beam deceleration technology enables us to image biological samples that would otherwise need coating to avoid charging, allowing us to accurately measure microscopic features such as nanocracks in starch. The addition of EDS has added new capability, which we have already leveraged for our own research, commercial clients, and industry partners.  The EDS software is seamlessly integrated in the TESCAN user interface and caters to beginners and experts alike”.

Ria Rebstock, Microscopy and Imaging Team Leader.

“The instrument is so easy to use, and I have been able to customise TESCAN’s Essence user interface streamlining our workflow.  New users can easily be trained to operate the CLARA in less than an hour, even people with no prior SEM experience.”

Andrew Chan, research scientist and primary instrument operator

Andrew added, “we have already had success imaging a diverse range of specimens as part of our research, including plant material such as fruit skins, stems, leaves, microorganisms, such as fungi, bacteria and viruses, insects, and fish.  We’ve also improved the reliability of our workflows for producing TEM-like images using the retractable four quadrant BSE (backscattered electron) detector.  While the sample preparation process remains largely the same, we now use robust silicon wafers instead of delicate copper or nickel grids to mount sections.  We then detect backscattered electrons, which provides a TEM-like image when the contrast is inverted.  Using this technique, we no longer contend with grid bars obscuring parts of our sample!”

Find out more about TESCAN