NUANCE Center Hosts Workshop Highlighting Advances in TKD and FE-SEM Technologies
On May 7, 2025, the NUance Center, Hitachi High-Tech, and Oxford Instruments, jointly hosted a workshop spotlighting the latest techniques and tools enhancing microstructure analysis at the nanoscale.
The morning officially began at 9:20 AM with opening remarks from Tirzah Abbott, Facility Manager of NUANCE’s EPIC SEM Facility introducing the workshops first speaker Atsushi Muto of Hitachi High-Tech America, Inc. In his talk, “Unlocking New Capabilities with the SU8700 UHR FE-SEM,” Muto showcased Hitachi’s latest ultra-high-resolution field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), highlighting how its novel features improve image clarity and analytical throughput across a wide range of applications.
The next talk was delivered by Mike Hjelmstad, Senior Applications Specialist at Oxford Instruments. Hjelmstad's talk, titled “Near-Axis Transmission Kikuchi Diffraction (NA-TKD) for Achieving High Spatial Resolution Microstructure Data”, explored how NA-TKD pushes the boundaries of spatial resolution, enabling more precise microstructural imaging—especially critical in the study of nanomaterials and thin films.
Following Hjelmstad, Mike Barsoum, a graduate student from the Dravid Research Group, presented on “Optimized Holder Design for Near-Axis TKD: Enabling Analysis of Beam-Sensitive Samples.” His work demonstrated how engineering thoughtful sample holders can mitigate electron beam damage, thus opening new doors for analyzing delicate specimens with NA-TKD techniques.
It is our hope that attendees felt informed and energized by the insights shared and inspired to apply new methods in their own research.
