Collection: Cryogenic Ultra-High Vacuum Sample Transfer

Do we need Ultra-High Vacuum Sample Transfer?

“Ultra-High Vacuum (UHV) is a very interesting vacuum range for surface analysis. Indeed, in the HV range a monolayer deposits every 4 seconds, and in the UHV range a monolayer deposits every 4 days.”

orsayphysics.com - What is UHV?

Do we need Cryogenic Ultra-High Vacuum Sample Transfer?

In 2017, the development of shock freezing technology and cryo SEM was honoured with a nobel price for swiss scientist Jaques Dubochet. Samples suspended in Liquid water are shock frozen within milliseconds at pressures up to 5000 bar in order to form amorphous ice.

nobelprize.org - Jacques Dubochet

Once vitrified, biological material must therfore be kept well below the glass transition temperature of 136K at all times during sample transport and transfer. It is also crucial that the vacuum level is good enough to prevent formation of cristalline ice on the surface of the sample. In an ideal arrangment, the sample is not the coldest spot in the system. It must surrounded by a cryo-shroud which is colder than the sample itself.

Transfer specimens between independent instruments