Prague, November 2025 – The Faculty of Civil Engineering at the Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU) has commissioned a new Tescan AMBER X electron microscope equipped with a xenon plasma focused ion beam (Xe plasma FIB). The system strengthens the university’s ability to study construction materials with precision suited for long-term scientific work. This advanced FIB-SEM for construction materials research enables CTU to investigate microstructure and material behavior at unprecedented detail.
A Universal Tool for Studying Complex Construction Materials
The key advantage of the AMBER X system lies in the combination of electron microscopy with a plasma FIB, which enables precise micromachining, preparation of lamellae, micro-samples, and the acquisition of 3D tomographic datasets. These workflows play a crucial role in material microstructure analysis, especially when dealing with heterogeneous or multi-phase systems.
These capabilities support detailed characterization of complex construction materials – from traditional and modified cementitious systems to materials containing fly ash or slag, all the way to modern fibre-reinforced composites or geopolymers. Such versatility makes AMBER X a powerful tool for researchers engaged in cementitious composite research and development.To learn more about recent developments at the university, you can explore CTU’s new microscopy facility in our related update: Tescan technology at CTU Prague.
Expanding Research Capabilities Across CTU Faculties
"If we want to improve the properties of construction materials and incorporate their modifications into modelling, we must analyze their microstructure in great detail. Only then can we understand which microstructural feature is responsible for a particular property," says Professor Jiří Němeček, Head of the Special Microscopy Laboratory at the CTU Faculty of Civil Engineering.
"We had been striving to acquire an instrument of this category for a long time and submitted the grant application in 2023," said Professor Němeček. "The Amber X from the Brno-based manufacturer best met our needs for diverse applications, from nanofabrication and sample extraction to EDS and EBSD microanalysis and 3D tomography," said Professor Jiří Němeček.
Training of PhD students and staff is already underway. The instrument will also be available to doctoral candidates from other CTU faculties, including the Faculty of Transportation Sciences and the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, which provided financial support to the acquisition. At the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, AMBER X will support research on microelectronic components, such as chips, transistors, and magnetic nanoparticle layers. The Faculty of Transportation Sciences will use the system to examine materials with internal structures, such as porous foams or printed lattices, taking advantage of the system's excellent resolution.
From Surface to Depth: 3D Tomography and Microstructural Analysis
AMBER X enables both high-resolution surface imaging and deep microstructural insight through sequential material ablation and 3D reconstruction of the microstructures.
"A standard electron microscope scans only the surface. AMBER X is equipped with an ion beam that allows us to remove small or large material volumes and reach deeper into the sample. Thanks to xenon ions, the focused beam is more efficient and, in some aspects, gentler than the more commonly used gallium ions," explains Professor Němeček.
Each slice can be analyzed simultaneously for chemical composition using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), for mineralogical composition, for crystallographic orientation using EBSD (Electron Backscatter Diffraction), as well as for additional parameters. The microscope is equipped with top-tier detectors that provide detailed elemental, phase, and crystallographic information.
"We can analyze the topography of fracture surfaces after mechanical testing, study cracks, internal porosity, and microstructure as a function of hydration degree, ageing, or, conversely, subsurface damage. This has opened the door to new research questions that cannot be answered without electron microscopy. These new insights will advance our research to the international level," said Professor Němeček.
Breakthrough Results: The First Mechanical Property Measurements of CSH Gels
The faculty's research team has already achieved novel results in the study of the fundamental components of cementitious composites, the so-called CSH (calcium-silicate-hydrate) gels that form the binding matrix of concrete.
"We developed a methodology for preparing microscale samples using FIB, which was extremely challenging and, at the time, practically undocumented in the scientific literature. Once we succeeded, we measured the tensile strengths and fracture energies of CSH gels at the micrometer scale. These were the first values of their kind ever measured worldwide," Professor Němeček explained.
These experimental data are now used to validate molecular-dynamics-based models and to calibrate computational simulations employed by researchers across the globe. "These values have become reference benchmarks for modelling the mechanical behaviour of cementitious composites at multiple length scales," added Professor Němeček.