Electron microscopes are expensive but highly useful pieces of kit. Around the world they are used to study all sorts of samples, from energy materials for battery technologies to virus particles and anti-cancer drugs. But as samples are bombarded with radiation beams, they may become damaged and could give unreliable results.
TurboTEM has developed technology called TempoSTEM that reduces the risk of such damage by shutting off radiation beams at a point when enough information has been gathered. Even better, the technology can be retrofitted to existing microscopes.
The Trinity College Dublin spinout has developed the technology in collaboration with IDES Inc, a subsidiary of JEOL Ltd, a global supplier of electron microscopes. TurboTEM has already sold Tempo units to microscope users, and Tempo won the 2024 Innovation Award from Microscopy Today for one of the most innovative products launched in 2023.
“Tempo is unlike anything else previously or currently on the market,” says turboTEM co-founder and chief executive Prof Lewys Jones, an Ussher Assistant Professor at Trinity’s School of Physics.
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“By reducing the cost and increasing the accessibility of high-performance electron microscopy, we hope to empower researchers engaged in tackling some of today’s biggest societal challenges, including green energy, catalysis, battery materials, drug-development and cancer diagnosis.”
