Mickey, A Computer Helping Hand for the Everyday use of the T.E.M.

Abstract

The efficiency of transmission electron microscopy investigations is drastically impaired by the time required for photographic plate development, measurements and interpretation. Very often, the operator has to go back to the microscope to complete his analysis. The evolution of the TEM, through the automation of an increasing number of operating parameters and the increasing use of small computers has led to a variety of performance improvements.The outline of the microscope facility that we developed is shown in Figure 1. The TEM/STEM EM400T PHILIPS microscope is linked simultaneously to the EDAX PDP devoted to X-ray microanalysis and to a DEC μPDP for diffraction analysis. This second computer, operating in a multitask RSX environment can be used for on-line and off-line analysis of patterns, microanalysis data and crystallographic calculations. The μPDP is coupled to the microscope via ADC/DAC converters and the Hybrid Diffraction STEM apparatus. The two computers are connected through a serial line for data transmission (i.e. spectra and chemical analysis). As a whole, this facility is integrated in a DEC ETHERNET network connected to a mainframe VAX computer. Several image workstations, are among the other nodes of the network.