General Information

The TEM Center at Chemnitz University of Technology houses the university’s transmission electron microscopy facilities. The building meets the specific requirements of highly sensitive instrumentation, including those related to electromagnetic fields, mechanical vibrations, and temperature stability. Electron microscopes are used across and within disciplines. The TEM Center is an interfaculty facility of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering (MB), Natural Sciences (NaWi), and Electrical Engineering and Information Technology (ETIT).

The concentration of transmission electron microscopes together with equipment for the preparation, handling, and storage of sensitive samples creates synergies—both in the deployment of specially trained scientific and technical staff, in the application of sophisticated techniques, and in the scientifically analysis of the generated data. The laboratories required for the preparation and preliminary inspection of the sensitive samples for TEM are utilized optimally. The shortest possible distances between the preparation area and the transmission electron microscopes themselves are ensured. Since the use of the building is uniformly focused on transmission electron microscopy, sources of interference from other experiments or large-scale equipment, as well as from renovations, can be effectively avoided. Due to this unique situation, access to the building is restricted to a specific group of users associated with the participating departments. The direct organizational and scientific point of contact is the Department of Electron Microscopy and Microstructural Analysis at the Institute of Materials Science and Engineering at Chemnitz University of Technology. Decisions are made jointly by an advisory board comprising representatives from the three participating faculties: MB, NaWi, and ETIT.