Possibly the centerpiece of Pacific Metallurgical Company's laboratory is our JEOL JSM-IC848 scanning electron microscope (SEM). This instrument, because of its extra-large chamber (approximately a twelve-inch cube) is particularly useful for metallurgical failure analyses that require examination of large samples.

Our SEM is equipped with a "thin-window" energy dispersive x-ray (EDX) detector, an IXRF Model 500 Digital Processor capable of detecting all elements with an atomic number greater than five (boron) and an IXRF Model 5480 Imaging Interface permitting acquisitionof electron images at resolutions of up to 4000 by 4000 pixels. We can also acquire x-ray line-scans and x-ray compositional maps.

All images are recorded digitally. 'Working' prints can be produced in seconds, and high-quality glossy prints and a CD-ROM containing all digital images are provided at the end of the inpsection.