TEM Grids & Support Films

The grid is the foundation of every TEM specimen. SPI supplies standard mesh grids across a wide range of materials and mesh counts, Quantifoil holey carbon and graphene supports for cryo-EM, silicon nitride membrane windows, FIB lift-out grids, and the polymer films used to make supports in-house.

Overview

A transmission electron microscope needs its specimen supported on something thin enough to be transparent to electrons and strong enough to survive handling, and that is what the grid provides. Material matters: copper is the default, nickel is used where magnetic separation or immunolabelling demands it, gold for its inertness in biological work, molybdenum where the specimen will be heated. Mesh count trades support against open area — a fine mesh holds fragile films, a coarse one gives more field of view. On top of the grid sits the support film, whether continuous carbon, a cast polymer film, the regular perforated array of Quantifoil holey carbon that made single-particle cryo-EM practical, or single-layer graphene for the thinnest possible background. SPI covers all of these, along with membrane window grids, FIB lift-out grids and finder grids for relocating a feature.

Manufacturer: SPI Supplies — USA

Local sales, installation, and technical support in Bangladesh by trained local engineers.

Models

Standard Metal Mesh Grids
Standard metal mesh grids are the traditional 3.05 mm diameter support grids used to carry ultrathin sections and support films for transmission electron microscopy.
Quantifoil Holey Carbon Grids
Quantifoil is a perforated support foil with a precisely pre-defined hole size, shape, and arrangement used as a support film on standard TEM grids.
Graphene Grids
The use of graphene in research is a growing area requiring a source of high quality materials and substrates.
Membrane Window Grids
Wet cell kits combine two membrane chips into a sealed liquid cell for in-situ imaging of specimens in their native liquid environment.
Lift-Out Grids
Half rings in beryllium and molybdenum are also offered as support rings for FIB lift-out work.
Finder & Index Grids
Finder and index grids carry a coordinate reference pattern in addition to the normal mesh.
Polymer Support Films
The SPI Domino Rack film support system is offered as an accessory for volume production of coated TEM grids.