The Materials Characterization Facility at Lehigh University, housed primarily in Whitaker Laboratory, contains one of the largest and most impressive collections of electron microscopes of any university in the U.S. These include 5 scanning electron microscopes (SEMs), 2 transmission electron microscopes (TEMs), 2 scanning transmission electron microscopes (STEMs), 1 focused ion beam thinner (FIB), 1 electron-beam lithography instrument and an electron microprobe. These instruments are well-suited for characterizing structures and chemical composition all the way down to the nanoscale, using an unparalleled range of imaging and analytical methods. The Laboratory is also home to extensive specimen preparation equipment and data analysis facilities.
The SEM capability of the Materials Characterization Facility is comprehensive, allowing us to cover specialist applications including EDS, WDS, EBSD, environmental and variable pressure microscopy, low-voltage imaging and cathodoluminescence. Our flagship STEM instrument is an aberration corrected JEOL JEM-ARM200CF (Atomic Resolution Microscope) fitted with a cold-field emission source, a CEOS advanced probe-forming aberration corrector (ASCOR), and a large-angle silicon drift X-ray detector.