ORION Series

The ORION microscope is based on the revolutionary, atomic-sized, ALIS gas field ion source. Emanating from a single atom, this remarkably bright beam of helium ions overcomes the problem of diffraction that affects the electron beams used in scanning electron microscopes. This means that the ORION microscope has a much smaller spot size for higher resolution imaging. In addition, the nature of the helium ion beam minimizes surface scattering and sample interaction volume, again contributing to high resolution imaging with more surface-specific information.

The ORION microscope also provides the option of imaging with backscattered helium ions, a technique that provides strong elemental contrast, which can be used to distinguish between different materials. The flexible and versatile ORION microscope is capable of providing a wide variety of analytical information, including: topographic, material, voltage contrast, crystallographic, surface and sub-surface. It easily can even handle samples that tend to charge.