IMRI facility blog

Dear Grand ARM users

A sample holder hit the objective lens and the holder was damaged and some parts got dropped inside. JEOL engineers are opening up the microscope to check it out. The scope will be baked over the weekend and then conditioned on Monday. The scope will be unavailable till then.

Grand ARM is operational as of 6pm on 4/16/18. The special EDS double-tilt holder was shipped to JEOL for repair. Please use a back up double tilt holder till the holder is returned.

Dear Grand ARM users

Grand ARM will be unavailable starting the week of April 30th. Gatan will move our K2 IS camera to the back of GIF Quantum. We anticipate that this upgrade will take at least 3-4 weeks.

We will post the status of the microscope in this blog. Please check the comments on this post.

Please be aware that the scope is not operational for a while.

IMRI Staff

The Gatan K2 IS/Quantum upgrade just started on April 30th. The Grand ARM will not be available until the upgrade completes.

Hi, Magellan users,

The Magellan is down now. The source beam is not stable. FEI engineers will continue to troubleshoot this issue tomorrow.
Please reschedule your experiment for tonight and tomorrow sessions. It is likely the source need to be replaced. We will find out  with proper tools tomorrow.
Sorry about the inconvenience. I will keep you updated on the status.

Thanks,

Qiyin

Dear 2800 users

JEOL-2800 is down due to vacuum problems. JEOL engineers worked hard to improve leaks. In order to fix leaks they need to open up the microscope in the week of 4/16.

IMRI Staff wrote on 4/20/18:

The vacuum issues of 2800 persist. JEOL engineers investigation/service will continue for the next week or two. Please check this blog to see the status.

IMRI Staff wrote on 4/25/18

JEOL Engineers found a cracked O-ring after a thorough search. They are going to put everything together and bring up the scope. Hopefully the scope will be operational soon. Stay tuned.

IMRI  Staff wrote on 4/27/18

The scope was put together and baked, yet the vacuum still poor, unfortunately. JEOL’s effort to fix the vacuum continue for the next week.

IMRI Staff wrote on 5/1/18

The scope is still down. JEOL engineers is doing thorough investigation right now. We are not going to update this blog unless we see any major progress. Please check our blog for the status. We will not respond to individual email asking about the scope.

IMRI Staff wrote on 5/7/18

JEOL made a great progress and removed sources of leaks. It turned out that the objective aperture units were leaking. The JEOL will realign the whole microscope for the next few days. We expect that 2800 will be operational by the end of this week. One thing that we need to mention is that objective apertures will be temporarily unavailable on 2800. We will send out email as soon as the scope is available for users.

IMRI Staff wrote on 5/10/18

JEOL 2800 is almost ready. JEOL completed re-aligning JEOL 2800. They have a bit of cleaning up to do in the morning. The scope will be available for users by the afternoon, say 1pm.  Thanks all for your patience.

The sputter coater ACE600 is down due to a problem at shutter shaft. Leica service department is contacted.

Tescan GAIA3 SEM/FIB has a problem with FIB. Engineer has been informed.

There are  a  few issues with Tescan SEM/FIB. Engineer has been informed. Waiting for response

Tescan SEM/FIB is down at 4pm this afternoon because of water issue. Engineer is informed. Waiting for response.

Grand ARM developed some issues in lens and cannot be operated. We will keep you posted on this.

Recently, FEI engineers carried out a PM maintenance. He also replaced the old filament with a new one. The new filament worked well.  During testing, a lens problem showed up. The engineer has been trouble shooting and ordering parts for some days. Lens power supply units were replaced together with lens control boards today. He is going to achieve a good vacuum tonight and do a test tomorrow. I expect that the TEM will be up in a couple of days.

I am going to schedule a training session soon after the TEM is fully up.