UK SBS PR16194 Side Entry Cold Stage for EM

Tender description

The LMB (Laboratory of Molecular Biology-MRC Cambridge) wish to purchase single-tilt holder for cryo transfer and tomography of thin-film frozen-hydrated/vitrified specimens for use in the LMBs existing range of transmission electron microscopes (TEMs) with the following specifications: • The construction of the standard specimen cup/ holder tip material should be constructed from Beryllium copper material • Should be able to maintain a temperature below -175 C for 4 hours or more in Cryo Work Station or a TEM. • Time to reach minimum operating temperature 30 mins or less • Should be able to tilt to +/- 75 degrees • Should achieve a resolution at 0 degrees tilt of 0.34nm or higher • Should enable the frost-free transfer of cryo-specimens to the TEM stage • Should allow the user to effortlessly secure a grid without the use of additional detachable C-clips or clip-rings that can get lost or damaged. • Should allow tool-free specimen mounting • Should accept a 3 mm diameter TEM sample grid • Should have a low drift-rate of 1.5 nm/minute or better • The level of liquid nitrogen in the holder dewar should not affect the drift-rate of the holder so as automated data acquisition can be carried out without supervision for at least 4 hours or more. The closing date for this tender is the 14th September 2016 at 14:00