The Vitrobot Mark IV System from Thermo Fisher Scientific is an automated plunge freezer able to vitrify thin samples applied to an electron microscopy grid after removing excess fluid by blotting.

Features

• Automated vitrification of aqueous suspensions and cells deposited on EM grids
• Temperature and humidity-controlled environmental chamber

Specifications

• Working temperature adjustable between +4°C and +60°C
• Relative humidity adjustable to 100%

The EM GP2 from Leica Microsystems is an automated plunge freezer able to vitrify thin samples applied to an electron microscopy grid after removing excess fluid by blotting.

Features

• Automated vitrification of aqueous suspensions and cells deposited on EM grids
• Temperature and humidity-controlled environmental chamber
• Sensor-driven blotting

Specifications

• Working temperature adjustable between +4°C and +60°C
• Relative humidity adjustable to 99%

The EM GP2 is part of the Coral Cryo CLEM workflow consisting of EM GP2, STELLARIS 5 Cryo and EM VCM plus EM VCT500 Cryo transfer shuttle or EM ACE600 coater plus EM VCT 500 cryo transfer shuttle.

EM VCT 500

With the EM VCT500 vacuum cryo transfer shuttle from Leica Microsystems samples can be transferred under cryogenic conditions or at room temperature as well as under vacuum or protected atmosphere to avoid contamination and ice crystal formation.

Features

• Optimised sample transfer thanks to active sample cooling and new valve concept 
• Monitoring of sample temperature and vacuum at any time during the workflow when docked 

EM VCM

The EM VCM vacuum cryo manipulation station from Leica Microsystems connects different preparation techniques to various analysis devices, such as Cryo-SEM, Cryo-TEM and Cryo-CLEM.

Features

• All transfer steps under vacuum
• Illumination, magnifier, tool dryer and automated LN2 refilling contribute to contamination-free sample handling
• Improved connectivity given by up to three sample holders and three transfer options

EM VCT and EM VCM are part of the Coral Cryo CLEM workflow additionally consisting of EM GP2, and STELLARIS 5 Cryo. Alternative: ACE600 coater plus EM VCT 500 cryo transfer shuttle.

EM ACE 600 sputter coater from Leica Microsystems for preparation of fine grained thin films for EM analysis.

Features

• Carbon, e-beam and sputter coating
• Glow discharging
• Produces thin, but strong support layers for TEM grids
• Provides protection layers for sensitive samples

Specifications

• Automated, receipt-based sputter coating process.
• High-quality carbon films by using carbon thread coating, carbon rod coating, or e-beam evaporation
• Precise, robust, and amorphous films with sub-nanometer thickness

The ACE600 is part of the Coral Cryo CLEM workflow consisting of EM GP2, STELLARIS 5 Cryo and EM VCM plus EM VCT500 Cryo transfer shuttle or EM ACE600 coater plus EM VCT 500 cryo transfer shuttle.

The EM ICE from Leica Microsystems is a modular high-pressure freezing system that can be expanded to enable optical and light stimulation as well as  a full live cell CLEM workflow. The freezing principle of the EM-ICE only uses LN2 as cooling liquid, thus preventing alcohol residue in the chamber, on the carrier or the specimens.

Features

• Alcohol-free freezing principle
• From fresh to frozen specimen in 1 second
• Adaptable for live cell imaging. Small modifications in the cartridge preparation area allow fast transfer of specimen between the light microscope and the high-pressure freezer increasing the accuracy of correlation of cellular events in space and time

Specifications

• Electrical and light stimulation module
• Automatic draining of the LN2 Dewar

EM ICE is part of the Coral Life live cell CLEM workflow consisting of the THUNDER Imager Live Cell, the EM ICE high pressure freezer and the EM AFS2 for automatic freeze substitution.