SASOL has very generously donated their Tecnai Osiris TEM to the Electron Microscope Unit (EMU) at UCT.  

The Osiris TEM was installed at SASOL in July 2012, but due to changes in their operational requirements, a decision was made in 2021 to decommission the instrument.  The EMU is delighted to be the recipient of the instrument which was packed up and shipped to UCT in December 2021.  Installation by Michael Woodward and a SPS technician began in February 2022, and it is hoped that the Osiris TEM will be operational by April 2022.

The Tecnai Osiris is an analytical TEM instrument optimised for high speed and high sensitivity EDX measurements in STEM mode. The four windowless Super-X SDD EDX detectors integrated into the pole piece allow detection of up to 200,000 X-ray counts/s over a 0.9 srad solid angle. By combining this ability with the high brightness XFEG gun, EDX maps can be acquired in seconds to minutes.  With a 11 Mpx Gatan Orius CCD camera, the microscope is also suitable for both conventional BF/DF and high-resolution TEM imaging.  In addition to the BF mode, two ADF and a HAADF STEM detector provide a wide range of diffraction and Z-contrast conditions for STEM imaging and analysis.  It is also equipped for EELS/EFTEM analysis.  All in all, a very good analytical TEM for materials science research.

The EMU is highly grateful for financial contributions from the Catalysis Institute and the Centre for Materials Engineering at UCT to support the relocation, service and commissioning costs to restore the Osiris to full operational capability at UCT.