Specimen heating is available with patterned heater membranes – heater chips. Metal spiral designs on silicon nitride membranes allows for specimen heating to 250°C, within a regular track spacing of 15 µm.
The frame size for the standard heater membrane is 5.0 mm x 5.0 mm, with a silicon nitride membrane 150 nm thick in the centre. A 4-point connection method is used to drive the heater using a resistive method, while accurate calibration & parallel testing allows the temperature to be evaluated for any given resistance. The large area heater spiral design covers the centre of the membrane, (0.5 mm x 0.5 mm). The temperature profile across the central area is very uniform, as verified by IR microscopy. Only at the edge of the heater area shows a slight drop in temperature profile.
The thin frame of the heater makes the standard heater ideal for use within Scanning or Transmission X-ray microscopes. Application areas include experiments including catalysis, oxidation & magnetism.
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