The scanning electron microscopy service, equipped with a QUANTA FEI 200 FEG-ESEM offers a powerful imaging tool for both, routine and advanced inspection of materials. The service is intended to offer high resolution facilities (1.2 nm @30kV) with a field emission gun, specially suited for the morphological characterization of nanocrystals, nanostructured materials and surfaces. Image contrast proportional to the atomic number is also available with high lateral resolution (2.5 nm @30kV) using an electron backscattered detector. The instrument can be used in high vacuum mode, low-vacuum mode (the chamber pressure is monitored by water vapour injection), and environmental SEM mode (ESEM). This makes it possible to study samples in pressures up to 5 Torr. The resolution is kept high at all conditions: 1.2 nm and 1.5 nm at 30kV in the high and low vacuum modes, respectively. The capability to vary the chamber pressure is specially suited for the observation of uncoated non-conducting materials. The microscope also features an EDS detector designed for light elements starting from Be, with an energy resolution of 132 eV. This tool enables the chemical analysis with a high lateral resolution (point analyses and elemental mapping), as required for the characterization of complex multicomponent nanostructured materials. The service includes electron beam lithography, used in many research activities at ICMAB like development of organic devices, the fabrication of substrate templates designed for defect engineering in thin epitaxial superconducting films, investigation of surface self-organization phenomena, and the fabrication of magnetoelectronic devices. Lithography and nano-lithography can be performed by a RAITH e-beam.

An environmental SEM, enabling characterization of non-conducting without a conductive, and is equipped with EDS (light element) and electrón-beam.