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Enabling Overnight, High-Yield TEM Preparation in Materials Science Labs

Produce consistent TEM lamella across diverse material classes using Tescan TEM AutoPrep Pro™ with automated workflows that minimize manual tuning and enable overnight preparation.

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Achieve Consistent TEM Lamella Quality with Automated Workflows

Materials science labs work with diverse samples, from soft metals to ceramics, composites, and semiconductors. TEM lamella preparation has traditionally required complex recipe adjustment, repeated trial cycles, and trained operators, limiting throughput and underusing microscope time.

Tescan TEM AutoPrep Pro™ solves these challenges with material-specific libraries, automated thickness control, and unattended overnight workflows. Researchers can prepare TEM samples across multiple materials with minimal tuning, ensuring consistent quality and greater productivity.

Why Prepare TEM Lamellae

with Automation on TESCAN TEM AutoPrep Pro™?

01
Root of the Problem

Why Standard TEM Prep Workflows Fall Short in Materials Science

Preparing high-quality TEM lamella from varied materials is complex and time-consuming. Standard FIB-SEM workflows require repeated recipe adjustments and expert operators, yet still struggle to deliver reproducible results. Overnight operation is rarely possible, leaving microscope capacity underutilized.

Each material presents unique challenges: differences in sputter rates, hardness, and beam sensitivity often lead to lamella damage, inconsistent thickness, or failed preparation runs. For multi-user labs, variability in operator skill makes outcomes even less predictable.

TEM AutoPrep Pro™ addresses these limitations with automated, material-specific workflows that ensure reproducibility, enable unattended overnight preparation, and consistently deliver TEM-ready lamella across diverse samples.

02
Materials and Methods

How TEM Lamella Were Prepared from Diverse Materials Using TEM AutoPrep Pro™

Aluminum, copper, ceramics (ZrO₂, Al₂O₃), and multilayer semiconductors were selected to demonstrate automated TEM lamella preparation. Regions of interest were identified using high-resolution SEM imaging for precise targeting of structural features.

Trench milling and thinning were performed on TESCAN FIB-SEM systems using TEM AutoPrep Pro™ workflows. Material-specific templates and sputter rate libraries automatically adjusted milling strategies. Lamellae were lifted out in-situ and mounted to TEM grids for final thinning.

Automated thickness control setting ensured consistent lamella across materials, while low-kV polishing preserved structural integrity. This workflow delivered reproducible, high-quality TEM lamella without repeated manual tuning or operator supervision.

03
Results and Discussion

High-Yield TEM Preparation Across Multiple Material Classes

TEM AutoPrep Pro™ enabled consistent preparation of TEM lamella from metals, ceramics, semiconductors, and multilayer composites. Automated templates and thickness control ensured reproducible results across materials with only minimal adjustments.

TEM imaging of automatically prepared lamella revealed sharp interfaces and uniform thickness, with minimal curtaining or amorphous damage. Structural details such as grain boundaries in aluminum, phase distributions in ZrO₂, and multilayer integrity in AlGaAs–InGaAs were clearly resolved.

Results confirmed reliable lamella stability and consistent quality across different samples. Success rates above 95% demonstrated that unattended, overnight preparation can deliver multiple TEM-ready lamella in a single session.

This workflow provides labs with reproducible results, increased throughput, and a dependable path to high-quality TEM analysis across diverse research and industrial applications.

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Tescan Instruments & Technology

Used in This Workflow

Tescan AMBER

Tescan AMBER integrates high-resolution SEM imaging with focused ion beam milling for accurate trenching, lift-out, and thinning. Advanced automation supports multi-site, unattended workflows, while AURA Gentle Ion Beam polishing minimizes surface damage and preserves lamella integrity.

Advanced automation supports multi-site preparation, making it ideal for unattended TEM workflows.

  • Gallium FIB milling: high-precision trenching and thinning

  • Field-free UHR SEM imaging: ensures accurate targeting and endpointing

  • In-situ lift-out capabilities: reduce contamination and handling risks

  • Multi-site automation: enables batch preparation across multiple regions

  • Reliable lamella stability: consistent preparation across soft and hard materials

  • AURA Gentle Ion Beam polishing: reduces surface damage and preserves fine structure

AMBER 2

Tescan TENSOR

Tescan TENSOR is a fully integrated, multimodal, analytical STEM microscope combining high-speed diffraction imaging, phase-orientation mapping, and automated analytical workflows.

TENSOR simultaneously captures STEM imaging, electron diffraction, and EDX elemental data, making it ideal for validating and nanoscale characterization of lamellas prepared by automated workflows.

  • Analytical 4D-STEM data acquisition: imaging, diffraction, and elemental analysis in one scan

  • Precession electron diffraction: enhanced accuracy and precision of 4D-STEM measurements

  • High-resolution grain orientation mapping: enabling characterization of metals and alloys used in additive manufacturing research

  • Accurate quantitative phase mapping: enables detailed analysis of polymorphic materials, such as alloys of ZrO₂

  • Multimodal analysis: synergetic combination of structural, chemical, and crystallographic data for increased and more accurate insights

TENSOR_1

Tescan AutoPrep Pro

Tescan AutoPrep Pro™ enables unattended, high-yield TEM sample preparation across metals, ceramics, semiconductors, and composites.

It integrates material-specific libraries, automated thickness control, and workflow automation to reduce manual recipe adjustments and improve reproducibility.

Overnight operation ensures multiple lamellae can be prepared in a single session without operator supervision.

  • Automated material-specific templates: adjust milling strategies for diverse sample types

  • Automated thickness control: delivers consistent lamellae across multiple materials

  • Overnight unattended workflows: maximize microscope uptime and throughput

  • Minimal manual input: reduces trial-and-error and operator burden

  • Proven high yield: reproducible lamella with success rates above 95%

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Where can you find us:

Tescan
Libušina třída 21
623 00 Brno
Czech Republic

info@Tescan.com