Quantitative tensile-tilting stages for the high voltage electron microscope

This paper describes a soft and a hard tensile stage for the high voltage electron microscope. Both stages can be combined with a top entry double tilting stage. The devices are driven by thermal expansion elements operating against water cooled parts. The drive mechanism shows smooth action with a relatively low response time and good long-time stability. The stages are equipped with strain gauge bridges for force and elongation measurements. The soft stage has a maximum load of 13 g, and a hard one reaches 1.5 kg.