Add-on Tools · MHCS

Micro Heating & Cooling Stage MHCS

A water-cooling-free micro heating and cooling stage — drive −60 °C to +125 °C temperature profiles on the sample, vibration-free.

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Compatible
The MHCS micro heating and cooling stage — a cylindrical aluminium stage on a round flanged base ringed with brass fixing screws.
−60 °C to +125 °CTemperature range
0.01 °CStability
10⁻⁷ mbar to atmosphericPressure range

Waterless from −60 °C to +125 °C#

The MHCS is a compact Peltier heating and cooling stage that mounts directly to an SEM’s stage — using the usual dovetail or a microscope-specific mount — and needs nothing beyond a vacuum feedthrough to run. Samples load on standard pin stubs, so fitting the stage is no different from swapping in any other sample holder. Once installed, the integrated head holds a set point anywhere from −60 °C to +125 °C to within 0.01 °C, with no water line entering the chamber to couple vibration into the image.

A logged, scriptable set point#

The included temperature controller and software give direct control over the set point and can drive custom temperature profiles while recording set point, power consumption and actual temperature together. The resulting graph, and the raw data behind it, export for later reference — useful for correlating a microstructural change with the exact thermal history that produced it, as in a CIGS or GaAs cross-section imaged at both +30 °C and −60 °C.

Up close

Gallery

  • Split SEM cross-section of a CIGS sample imaged at +30 °C and −60 °C, showing surface droplets that disappear at the lower temperature.
    A CIGS cross-section at +30 °C and −60 °C — the same 1 µm field of view.
  • Split SEM view of a GaAs substrate at +30 °C, covered in small droplets, and at −60 °C, with the droplets suppressed.
    Cooling to −60 °C suppresses droplet contamination on a GaAs substrate.
  • Close-up of the MHCS stage from below, showing the sensing head, mounting screws and the braided signal cable exiting the base.
    The heating, cooling and sensing head, cable exit visible.
Specifications

Technical data

Temperature

Range (min., in vacuum)
−60 °C
Range (max., in vacuum)
+125 °C
Stability
0.01 °C

Environment

Pressure range
10⁻⁷ mbar to atmospheric

Dimensions

Diameter
140 mm (incl. mounting plate)
Height
21 mm (w/o dovetail)
On film

See it run

Temperature-dependent fault isolation
Why it wins

Advantages

More robust and more stable

  • Vibration-free — waterless Peltier heating and cooling
  • Integrated heating, cooling and sensing in one head
  • Mounts to the SEM stage dovetail; only a vacuum feedthrough is added

Clearer and simpler

  • Installs like any other sample holder, on standard pin stubs
  • Drives custom temperature profiles while logging set point, power draw and actual temperature
  • Graphs and raw data export for later reference
Explore

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