Quantifoil Holey Carbon Grids
Quantifoil is a perforated support foil with a precisely pre-defined hole size, shape, and arrangement. The use of these support foils as "support films" on TEM grids offers a number of advantages not only for conventional transmission electron microscopy (TEM), but also for low-energy point source (LEEPS) microscopy when compared with conventional holey carbon support films.
The quantitatively defined geometry of the Quantifoil holey film facilitates the use of automation in TEM, something that with conventional carbon films would probably not be possible.
In other words, this product is a superior type of holey carbon film. One that costs more than the conventional holey carbon filmed grids offered by SPI Supplies, and it surely does cost more money. However for a select group of users, the Quantifoil supported grids do offer some very real advantages and in some instances permit the conduct of certain types of work that just otherwise could not be done.
In summary, the Quantifoil support film exhibits a high percentage of open area and is used to minimize the total specimen thickness and to minimize object distortions arising from interactions with a support film.
Thus the perforated foil is used to bear an ultra-thin carbon support foil or to directly support a large sample object, such as µm sized powder particle, which could be important when doing either electron diffraction (ED), electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) and electron spectroscopic and dark field imaging. The foil finds applications when nano-sized features are to be studied, such as biomacromolecular complexes, are studied in a free hanging layer of sustaining medium.
