In Situ TEM

Lightning Arctic

In situ TEM cooling, heating & biasing

Perform cooling, heating and biasing all in one system. Set intermediate temperatures anywhere between -160 °C to 800 °C while biasing your sample.

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Introduction

Cool, heat and bias the sample inside your TEM

The Lightning Arctic in situ TEM cooling, biasing and heating system lets you observe the real-time dynamics of your specimen under a controllable electrical stimulus, either during cooling with liquid nitrogen or during heating. The double-tilt cryogenic sample holder gives you atomic-resolution stability over long periods, while the MEMS-chip microheater reaches any intermediate point across a wide temperature range.

Operating in two distinct modes, cooling & biasing or heating & biasing, the system unlocks low-temperature physics and lets you correlate the structure, electronic properties and performance of your materials and devices directly.

Perform in situ cooling and heating TEM experiments

The Lightning Arctic holder features an integrated cooling rod that establishes an efficient thermal path between the external environment to the MEMS nano-chip at its tip. Connecting this rod to a liquid nitrogen dewar via a cooling braid enables cryogenic cooling inside the TEM column, while the nano-chip heater simultaneously allows precise temperature control of the sample. A combination of the holder-based cooling with chip-based heating extends the system's operational range, allowing users to sweep temperatures from -160 °C to 800 °C within a single experiment.

Experience atomic imaging stability

Engineered for extreme stability, the Lightning Arctic holder integrates dual temperature controllers that actively counteract sample drift during cooling experiments. One controller maintains thermal equilibrium with the TEM column while the other minimizes the environmental influence on the sample. Together with an external LN₂ dewar, these controllers enable low-drift atomic-resolution imaging at cryogenic temperatures.

Au nanoparticle at -175 °C

2.65 Mx, 1k × 1k, 1 µs dwell time, 50 frames. Courtesy of Dr. Vladimir Roddatis, GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences.

Continuous temperature control

Our state-of-the-art heating and biasing Nano-Chips enable the local manipulation of the temperature of the sample while not disturbing the cooling process of the holder. This means that you can achieve the fast setting of any user-defined temperature and the minimization of the image and focus shift when changing the temperature setpoint, all while ensuring atomic-scale imaging quality.

Achieve your required sample orientation

The double-tilt Lightning Arctic holder lets you tilt the sample in both alpha and beta directions, orienting the specimen towards the desired zone axis to achieve atomic resolution. Beta tilt reaches ± 15 degrees in the JEOL HRP and WGP pole pieces and ± 20 degrees in Thermo Fisher Scientific S-twin and X-twin, depending on your exact configuration.

Perform in situ biasing experiments while heating/cooling

The Heating and Biasing Nano-Chips let you apply and measure electrical signals during either cooling or heating experiments, with a voltage range of at least ± 40 V.

Because FIB specimen preparation is vital for reliable electrical or electrothermal characterization, we offer proven workflows and dedicated tools, including our specialized FIB stub. This established workflow gives you repeatable, high-quality, short-circuit-free and operational FIB lamellae prepared directly onto the Nano-Chips.

Sample carrier flexibility

To maximize versatility, the Lightning Arctic system features an interchangeable cartridge that hosts standard, non-MEMS sample carriers. Conventional options such as 3 mm TEM grids or lift-out grids clamp onto the cartridge and go into the holder for stable cryogenic experiments, with cartridges available for both JEOL and Thermo Fisher Scientific microscopes.

The Lightning Arctic cartridge holding a 3 mm grid, beside JEOL and Thermo Fisher Scientific cartridges

Ferroelectric materials

Study ferroelectric domain dynamics, phase transitions, and polarization switching at cryogenic and elevated temperatures.

Magnetic materials

Investigate magnetic ordering, domain wall motion, and spin transitions across a wide temperature range.

Quantum materials

Explore quantum phase transitions, superconductivity, and topological phenomena at cryogenic temperatures.

E-beam sensitive materials

Cool beam-sensitive specimens to cryogenic temperatures to slow radiation damage, and keep imaging them at atomic resolution while you do.

Nano-Chip

The Heating and Biasing MEMS Nano-Chip is placed at the tip of the holder and carries your sample. Its four-point probe configuration keeps both the applied bias and the temperature accurate, and the local microheater changes the sample temperature without disturbing the cooling of the holder around it, so any intermediate setpoint is reached quickly and with minimal image and focus shift.

Sample holder

The double-tilt cryogenic holder enables sample's tilt in alpha (X) and beta (Y) directions, allowing you to orient the specimen towards the required zone axis. An integrated cooling rod, connecting the tip of the holder with a nano-chip and the cooling braid immersed in a liquid nitrogen dewar ensures efficient cooling of the sample. The dual temperature controllers counteract sample drift upon cooling: one holds thermal equilibrium with the TEM column, the other minimizes the environment’s influence on the holder.

Liquid nitrogen dewar

Cooling comes from an external liquid nitrogen dewar, connected to the holder via a detachable metallic braid. Keeping the dewar external helps to suppress the bubbling, which is what makes atomic-resolution imaging at cryogenic temperatures possible. The volume of the dewar extends the cooling duration for at least 4 hours without compromising the imaging stability. Without the dewar, the holder operates as a heating and biasing system.

Impulse software

Impulse gives you full control over temperature and bias from one place: design the experiment with the drag-and-drop profile builder, let the automation hold your sample conditions, and reproduce the run later. The API and Python module drive the system from your own scripts and synchronize data collection with the stimuli.

Nexus software

Nexus brings the whole experiment back together afterwards. Import data from GMS, TIA, Velox and Impulse into one synchronized workspace and view your TEM images alongside the temperature and bias signals on a shared timeline. Process the data in the same project with the bundled Python scripts for drift removal, smoothing and peak detection, or with your own, and export annotated videos and figures that combine images, graphs and metadata.

Read more about Nexus

The Nexus workspace showing a cryogenic BaTiO3 experiment: the image series beside holder and sample temperature on a shared timeline

The high stability of the DENSsolutions Lightning Arctic Holder has enabled us to perform variable-temperature ptychography, a technique with stringent requirements for minimal vibration and drift. Using cryogenic multislice electron ptychography, we achieved sub-0.3 Å resolution across temperatures from 100 to 800 K, realizing an experiment I had dreamed of since my postdoctoral days. This capability now allows us to directly track picometer-scale structural distortions across phase transitions in ferroic and quantum materials.

Assistant Professor Yu-Tsun Shao University of Southern California

The DENSsolutions Lightning Arctic system enables atomic-resolution cryogenic operando TEM of functional materials, revealing dynamic phase transitions and electrically driven phenomena with unprecedented stability and precision.

Professor Leopoldo Molina-Luna TU Darmstadt

I am impressed by the outstanding stability and experimental flexibility of the DENSsolutions Lightning Arctic holder. In particular, its capability to achieve atomic-resolution characterization across a broad temperature range from liquid-nitrogen temperature up to 800 °C is remarkable. This holder serves as an ideal experimental platform for us to investigate the structural and electrical properties of two-dimensional materials at low temperatures.

Dr. Qishuo Yang Southern University of Science and Technology

Is there a procedure that can help me with FIB sample preparation?

Yes, there is a dedicated sample preparation protocol for heating and biasing nano-chips. Furthermore, every Wildfire and Lightning system includes a dedicated FIB stub that facilitates the process (FIB Stub 3.0: Sample Preparation | DENSsolutions

What is the lowest cooling temperature?

With Lightning Arctic it is always possible to reach a guaranteed temperature of -160 °C. Lower temperatures of -170°C is regularly achievable.

How long does it take before imaging at cryo-EM conditions?

It takes an hour to cool the Lightning Arctic holder down to liquid nitrogen temperatures and to stabilize it.

How long can the holder be kept cooled?

The external dewar holds up to 800 ml of liquid nitrogen, which is enough to run in situ cooling experiments for at least 4 hours without a refill.

What is the beta tilt range of the holder?

The beta tilt range depends on the microscope type, model and the pole piece geometry. Please enquire for specific tilt range in your TEM.

Which sample carriers can be used with the Lightning Arctic holder?

The holder is compatible with our MEMS-based heating and biasing Nano-Chips that enable cooling, heating and biasing in situ TEM experiments. Some of these chips are shared between the Lightning and the Lightning Arctic holders. In addition, holder can be used in combination with 3 mm and lift-out TEM grids that greatly expand the sample options.

Can you set intermediate temperatures and how fast does it stabilize?

The microheater of the heating and biasing Nano-Chips are used to change the sample's temperature locally while the whole tip is being cooled. The state-of-the-art chip and heater design enables you to achieve the fast setting of any user-defined temperature and the minimization of the image and focus shift when changing the temperature setpoint, all while ensuring atomic-scale imaging quality. There is virtually no sample stabilization needed to get atomic image resolution imaging at intermediate temperatures when cooling.