The Buehler Ecomet 30 is a new grinding and polishing system located in VINSE’s specimen preparation laboratory. This tool enables both manual polishing of devices and materials and automatic polishing of resin-embedded samples. Rapid, but controlled material removal is achieved by varying the grit of silicon carbide-coated paper and utilizing the systems variable speed, direction, and applied force. Lapping cloths and solutions can then be used to highly polish samples suitable for high resolution SEM imaging, EBSD and EDS analysis. Automatic burst dispensers can be utilized to automate high volume workflows.
The Strauss lab primarily uses the Ecomet to prepare welded metal specimens for both optical and electron microscopy. Brayden Terry states “We’ve also used it in the past to polish reacted thermite mixtures and welded polymers. Whether using a mounted sample with the auto-polishing system or controlling the system manually, it has greatly reduced the time and effort needed to produce clear samples for imaging.”