MM3E
An encoded, closed-loop micromanipulator — define parking and working positions and recall them at the click of a button.

Positions you can return to#
Based on the hugely successful MM3A-EM, the MM3E exhibits the same compactness, precision and stability, combined with closed-loop positional feedback on every axis. Define a parking position and a working position once, then recall each at the click of a button — instead of hunting for the same spot in the chamber run after run. Repeatability is better than 2 µm, with drift held below 1 nm/min.
Give your microscope a hand: use the MM3E to add new capabilities and functionality to your instrument.
A spherical drive that behaves like XYZ#
Drag-and-drop control software performs the coordinate transforms so the spherical, non-cartesian mechanism handles like a familiar XYZ stage, inside either the SEM or FIB view. The optional encoded axial rotation drive turns the specimen compucentrically, resolved to under 0.5 × 10⁻⁶° and repeatable to within 0.02°, so the point of interest stays framed as you rotate.
Built for the choreography of lift-out#
No backlash and no blind axis mean the tip goes exactly where the software says it will, run after run — which is what TEM lamella lift-out demands: approach, attach, cut free, transfer. The Tip Exchanger tool swaps probe tips without venting the chamber, so a session recovers from a mount or geometry change in minutes, not a pump-down cycle.
Technical data
Overview
- Mounting
- M4 tapped hole
- Working range
- 100 cm³
- Repeatability (XYZ)
- < 2 µm
- Compucentric rotation FOV
- ~30 µm
Resolution
- Axis A
- 0.5 nm (7 nrad)
- Axis B
- 0.2 nm (7 nrad)
- Axis C
- 0.05 nm
- Rotation R
- < 0.5 × 10⁻⁶°
- Repeatability — R
- < 0.02°
- Drift
- < 1 nm/min
Electrical & environment
- Probing current
- 10 nA – 100 mA
- Max. probing voltage
- 100 V
- Signal resistance
- 7.0 Ω
- Temperature range
- 273 K – 353 K
See it run
Advantages
Closed-loop control
- Positional feedback on every axis
- Define parking and working positions, then recall them at a click
- Optional encoded compucentric rotation keeps the point of interest centred as the sample turns
Spherical geometry, cartesian behaviour
- Coordinate transforms make the non-cartesian drive handle like an XYZ stage, repeatable to better than 2 µm
- One drive spans coarse and fine motion — no dead "blind axis" partway through a stroke
- 100 cm³ working range, the same compact body as the MM3A-EM
Precise & stable
- Resolution down to 0.05 nm on the C axis, with drift held below 1 nm/min
- Compucentric rotation resolved to under 0.5 × 10⁻⁶°, repeatable to within 0.02°
- One-year endurance tested for reliable operation
Built for lift-out
- Drag-and-drop control software performs the cartesian coordinate transform for you
- Compatible with virtually any SEM or FIB/SEM on the market
- Probe tip exchange without venting the chamber, using the Tip Exchanger tool
What it’s used for
Materials ScienceTEM Sample Preparation
Cut out and lift microscopic, electron-transparent lamellae for transmission electron microscopy, faster, more accurately and more reliably.
Explore
Materials ScienceNanomanipulation
Pick up, position and assemble nano-objects (wires, particles, flakes) inside the electron microscope.
ExploreApplication articles
Introduction to TEM sample preparation
Why electron-transparent lamellae are hard to make, and how in-situ lift-out makes it routine.
The in-situ lift-out workflow
Approach, attach, cut free, transfer and mount, the choreography of a clean FIB lift-out.
Two-arm handling & assembly
Using two or more manipulators together to hold, hand off and assemble nanoscale parts.
Lift-out, filmed inside the chamber
Full TEM lamella lift-outs and the iLO control software, recorded under the beam.
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