Thermo Fisher Aquilos – Focused Ion Beam Scanning Electron Microscope (FIB/SEM):

The Aquilos is a state-of-the-art focused ion beam equipped scanning electron microscope (FIB/SEM). This variable accelerating voltage microscope runs between 500V – 30kV electron accelerating voltage. The electron accelerator uses a field emission gun (FEG) source to provide a high-current coherent electron beam. The detectors include backscatter and secondary electron detectors. The Aquilos has an additional ion column gun and accelerator to accelerate Galium ions onto the sample surface to mill away unwanted tissue or cell material in preparation for tomography applications on the Glacios TEM. The system also has platinum deposition hardware and a gas injection needle for additional platinum coating to protect the sample during imaging and milling. In order to perform correlated light and electron microscopy (CLEM) and to find regions of interest, the Aquilos is equipped with an internal fluorescence imaging microscope (iFLIM). Cells and tissues can be imaged on the internal light microscope, important areas captured in fluorescence, then the same areas of interested can be milled to suitable thickness for use on the Glacios to determine 3-dimensional structures. The samples are loaded into the FIB/SEM on a specialty airlock transfer station, the samples are loaded onto a shuttle that is loaded onto a cryogenic stage to maintain near -193 deg C temperatures needed to maintain amorphous ice needed for imaging and tomography applications on the Glacios TEM. The Aquilos is also equipped with a sample lift-out system to lift out milled samples and place them on Specialized TEM grids for tomography applications on the Glacios TEM. The Aquilos system is available to all University of California students, staff, and faculty as well as external institutions both private and public. Access is dependent upon completion of the electron optics training and hands on Aquilos training provided by UCSB CryoEM staff. Rates are listed in the rates section of our website. Access to the facility and staff is managed by our scheduler software.