XEI Scientific Inc, manufacturer of the popular EVACTRON® De-Contaminator™ Plasma Cleaning System for electron microscopes and other vacuum chambers, was awarded a US patent on May 6, 2014, for a device to load TEM sample holders into a vacuum chamber. 

XEI is pleased to announce that the company has been granted a new US patent # US8716676B2 which describes a new device to load TEM sample holders into a vacuum chamber. 

It was invented by invented by George Safar of the XEI development team. This device allows the TEM sample stage and holder to be easily inserted into XEI’s desktop Evactron® CombiClean™ plasma cleaner without fear of bumping the end of the holder or specimen when it enters. It makes the Evactron CombiClean an-easier-to-use system than competitive products. 

Designed as a complete cleaning solution, the Evactron CombiClean System features an integrated vacuum chamber for desktop cleaning samples and vacuum parts, as well as an external Plasma Radical Source (PRS) for Evactron in-situ cleaning of E-beam instruments such as SEMs, FIBs and other analytic instruments by removing carbon contamination. The system monitors operation of either PRS unit, has internal memory, and is designed for routine operation with minimal operator training. On-board control allows for changing the cleaning modes between external and internal PRS with just the flip of a switch. This system is compatible with rotary vane pumps without the worry of oil back-streaming. A dry nitrogen purge feature keeps specimens clean after plasma cleaning and a storage mode allows the user to continue dry nitrogen purge samples while the external PRS is in use. 

Speaking about this exciting news, Ronald Vane, president of XEI Scientific, said “this is the third patent issued to XEI since January 2013. We are a small company in a small, niche market, but it is a market where we are the innovation leaders. We have another major patent pending and ongoing research into new products. We are committed to provide our customers with more new products in the field of in-situ plasma cleaning of high vacuum systems and plasma cleaning for electron microscopy.” 

XEI has sold more than 1850 Evactron systems worldwide solving contamination problems in many different environments using instrumentation such as electron microscopes, FIBs and other vacuum sample chambers.

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