Thermo Fisher Scientific Desktop SEM Improves Quality Control and Material Cleanliness

Thermo Fisher Scientific has introduced the Thermo Scientific Phenom ParticleX, a versatile and intuitive desktop scanning electron microscope (SEM) solution. It is said to provide automotive suppliers and additive manufacturing companies faster quality control analyses of materials used to develop automotive parts or other products.

The Phenom ParticleX includes a broad range of automated SEM analyses to identify faults in materials or gauge the impact development and production changes have on a final product. By keeping production continuity and quality control in-house, the Phenom ParticleX users can analyze materials up to ten times faster than outsourcing.

“The new automated system in the Phenom ParticleX offers multiple sample analyses, including chemical and morphological classification, outlier detection, and identification of contamination, that validates produced goods against industry-approved standards,” says Trisha Rice, vice president and general manager of materials science at Thermo Fisher Scientific. “The decrease in validation time enables manufacturing companies to produce inventories that meet customer commitments without developing unnecessary inventory.”

The high-resolution imaging and chemical analysis capabilities in the Phenom ParticleX deliver more detailed failure analyses than using optical microscopes. Users can characterize size distribution, particle homogeneity and foreign contaminants to evaluate the purity of metal particles at the microscale. Industrial manufacturers can use it to confirm components that fulfill technical cleanliness specifications according to the VDA19 or ISO16232 standards. It also provides detailed feedback on the cleanliness or purity of final product without having to share this confidential and valuable data with third parties.

The Phenom ParticleX package consists of a high-performance Phenom XL Desktop SEM with automation software packages for additive manufacturing and technical cleanliness, the company says.