In this 2-day course, the theory and applications presentations in the morning are followed by practical demonstration and hands-on sessions in the afternoon.  Instructors: Stan Vitha, Rick  Littleton, Andy Sen, Hansoo Kim.

Class size is limited to 15 participants

Cost: TAMU: $300;         Other Universities:  $500;           Industry: $800

Payment will be processed through the iLab reservation and scheduling system. Students and other lab members should discuss with their PI or lab financial manager and get an account number assigned that can be used for billing. If you are a non-TAMU user, please contact Sara Maynard (saramaynard@tamu.edu)  or Avery McIntosh (almcintosh@tamu.edu) to get you set up.  

While the Short Course does not qualify as regular training for independent operation of the SEM, TAMU participants may afterwards get trained on the Tescan Vega SEM at substantially reduced cost. This option is available through August and September 2026.

Program:    

Tuesday Aug 18:  9:00 AM-12:00 PM  – Lectures

• Basic principles of SEM: Interactions of electron beam with the sample, types of signals commonly used in SEM (SE, BSE, CL, X-Ray);  SEM Design, vacuum system, electron sources.  
• Principles of sample preparation for SEM (Vitha)
• BREAK  
• Analytical SEM : EDS, EBSD – principles, applications, examples (Kim)

                Demo/lab tour 1:00-2:00 PM

• Preparation of hydrated samples: Fixation, Dehydration, critical point drying tools
• Mounting of samples on SEM mounts: particle powders, microorganisms,  dehydrated samples
• Making the samples conductive: sputter coating, evaporative carbon coating, osmium tetroxide vapor coating

SEM Demonstration (with some hands-on practice); 2:00-5:00 PM 

Group rotation: 1h each 

1. A) Tescan Vega SEM – Loading of samples, basic operation of SEM, beam alignment, stigmation;  spot size and resolution. Effects of working distance, beam intensity/spot size and accelerating voltage on contrast, resolution. Charging artefacts.  Imaging uncoated, non-conductive  samples. Hands-on operation of the Vega SEM. 
2. B) FEI Quanta FESEM demonstration:  High resolution imaging, EDS spot, line spectra, EDS mapping. 
3. C) TF Helios SEM: ultra high resolution imaging  

 Wednesday Aug. 19: 9:00 AM-12:00 PM – Lectures

• Effects of accelerating voltage on resolution, charging, depth, contrast (Vitha).
• 3D surface profilometry and texture analysis using SEM and stereogrammetry
• BREAK
• Cryo-SEM, FIB, 3D SEM imaging principles (Sen)
• Basics of Image Processing and Analysis (Vitha/Sen) – Image Formats, software, background subtraction, filtering, thresholding/segmentation

Demo/hands-on 1:00 PM-5:00 PM

• 1-2pm: Tescan Vega SEM: Surface 3D imaging, texture analysis using stereo images and MeX software; Imaging of large samples: Image Stitching, x-positioner navigation
• 3-5pm Image processing and Analysis,  using your own laptop: guided session (Sen).  

For the guided session, users will bring their own laptop computer with the required software installed (Fiji/ImageJ + plugins as instructed) and the demonstration data set downloaded (instructions will be provided ahead of the course). 

Users who want to bring their own sample for imaging should contact MIC (stanvitha@tamu.edu) ahead of time so that the sample can be adequately prepared. If there is not enough time during the afternoon sessions, additional time will be scheduled for imaging these samples.

Using the MIC? Please include this statement in your paper:

“The use of Texas A&M University Microscopy and Imaging Center Core Facility (RRID:SCR_022128) is acknowledged.”