High throughput serial sectioning
In addition to conventional resin block sectioning and cryosectioning our facility is equipped with tools for high throughput sectioning of resin-embedded specimens.
Successful cutting of many serial sections is crucial for array tomography (see SEM Imaging Techniques) and is facilitated by two tools: advanced substrate holder (ASH) and AtumTOME – a system for automated collection of sections on a tape. ASH typically allows collection of up to a few hundreds of relatively small sections and the operator is required to mount the sections directly on a support wafer. AtumTOME can collect up to thousands of larger sections on a steadily moving tape without the operator being present. The tape is then cut into strips and mounted on large silica wafers.
