Raman Microscope Improvement – Shared Instrumentation Facility

Thermo-Fisher DXR Raman Microscope has now been integrated with TMC-Ametek smooth top Clean bench table featuring a Gimbal-piston pneumatic vibration isolation that uses compressed air to isolate the payload from disturbances. This combination will allow users to achieve high spectral resolution and data accuracy, free from the disruptive effects of ambient vibration. Additional features of the table are given below;

Vibration isolation efficiency up to 85% @ 5 Hz, 95% @ 10 Hz
Stable and level ferromagnetic top surface with +/- 0.020 inches flatness
Front support bar and arm rest pad ensuring an ergonomic work environment.
Net load capacity of 600 lbs. (272 kg)
Highly damped, high stiffness leg frame

Optical microscope image of Iodine doped Tetrathiofulvalene (TTF) crystalline film. The film, grown from a melt crystalizes into a spherulite composed of helicoidal fibril that shows alternating dark and bright band as the fibril grows outward from a central nucleus. The image was captured using the Microview program at the DXR Raman Microscope. The red dot on the image shows the location of where the spectrum was collected from. Sample courtesy of St. John Whittaker (Prof. Stephanie Lee group)

The characteristic Raman spectrum of the dark band of Iodine doped tetrathiofulvalene (TTF) crystalline film is shown. The spectrum was collected using 0.2 mW laser power (532 nm laser), with exposure time 10 seconds, averaging over 4 exposures. The spot size for data collection was 0.7 mm achieved by using a 100x objective. Sample courtesy of St. John Whittaker (Prof. Stephanie Lee group)

Please avoid putting your arm on the vibration isolation table, as that will increase the payload weight and cause vibration. Use the arm pads located in front of the table (see picture) to rest your arms instead.

The vibration isolation table should lessen the effect of vibration due to adjacent noisy instruments + footfall of users etc. and allow use of higher magnification objectives such as 50x or 100x. Please remember to only use the crude Z adjustment wheel (see picture) to adjust height of the sample and use the fine Z adjustment adjacent to the joystick. Do not adjust the compressed air pressure that is connected to the table.