FLEXcon Co., Inc. recently announced that its new scanning electron microscope (SEM) is up and running. FLEXcon acquired the SEM with a portion of the funds received from the Massachusetts Manufacturing Innovation Initiative (M2I2) grant awarded to Carpe Diem Technologies last July. The goal of the acquisition is to enable imagery and analysis of micro-embossed film samples during the development of new microstructures.

“With each iteration of a new structure, we must test to confirm whether we have accurately replicated the desired microstructure,” said Jordan Smith, market development specialist for FLEXcon’s Performance Products business team. “Having the ability to take photographs of a microscopic structure for analysis is invaluable.”

The SEM is able to magnify the surface of a micro-embossed film 100,000 times. This enables developers to look at the surface topography and perform precise analysis. The 3D profile provided by the SEM allows them to actually see the structure and confirm that they’re accurately reproducing the pattern before investing in trial runs of material.

For more information, visit www.flexcon.com.