Gatan and DECTRIS Announce the Release of the Stela Low-Voltage Camera for the GIF Continuum K3

PLEASANTON, CA, May 5, 2020 – Gatan, a leading manufacturer of instrumentation and software used to enhance the performance of electron microscopes, and DECTRIS, the industry leader in hybrid-pixel x-ray and electron detectors for science and industry, today announced the use of the DECTRIS-powered Stela™ hybrid-pixel camera as a low-voltage partner to the Gatan GIF Continuum^® K3^® product line.

Currently, the K3 uses a large format active-pixel sensor optimized for 200 – 300 kV microscopes to perform low-dose, electron counting energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) and energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM) applications. Adding the large-pixel DECTRIS detector, which is developed for lower voltage operation, now extends these studies down to 30 kV. Furthermore, the Gatan DigitalMicrograph^® software unifies the acquisition and analysis of the K3 and Stela cameras under a single platform. As a result, this integrated solution provides the first truly optimized 30 – 300 kV electron-counting energy filter to address advanced EELS, EFTEM and energy-filtered, four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy (4D STEM) diffraction studies.

“This solution is a result of the synergy between Gatan and DECTRIS: our best-in-class direct electron detectors harmoniously integrated into Gatan’s excellent system allow for even more efficient use of low energies in materials science research,” says Dr. Christian Broennimann, Chief Executive Officer of DECTRIS. “We are excited to witness how this high-performance combination advances energy-filtered techniques.”

"The addition of the DECTRIS-powered Stela detector will expand the operating range of our flagship GIF Continuum K3 system to low-voltage, electron counted EELS and EFTEM," commented Narayan Vishwanathan, Vice President and Business Unit Manager of Gatan. "Being more than the sum of its parts, the seamless integration of the Stela on a GIF Continuum K3 results in a single system that is both powerful and easy to use over the full energy range of today's S/TEMs."

Such a platform covering the entire energy range of modern electron microscopes is critical for researchers in advanced catalyst design, semiconductor device R&D, and high-performance alloy characterization. Moreover, a successful experiment primarily relies on fast data collection with robust, easy-to-use software for data acquisition and analysis. This collaboration between Gatan and DECTRIS brings all these aspects together in a single package that enables researchers at all levels to access these critical experimental methods.

About AMETEK GATAN

Gatan is the world's leading manufacturer of instrumentation and software used to enhance and extend the operation and performance of electron microscopes. Gatan's products, which are fully compatible with all brands of electron microscopes, cover the entire range of the analytical process from specimen preparation and manipulation to imaging and analysis. Its customer base spans the complete spectrum of end-users of analytical instrumentation typically found in industrial, governmental, and academic laboratories. The applications addressed by these scientists and researchers include new materials research, semiconductors, electronics, geosciences, biological science, and biotechnology. The Gatan brand name is recognized and respected throughout the worldwide scientific community and has been synonymous with high-quality products and the industry's leading technology. Gatan is a business unit within the Materials Analysis Division of AMETEK, Inc., a leading global manufacturer of electronic instruments and electromechanical devices with 2020 sales of more than $4.5 billion.

About DECTRIS

DECTRIS develops and manufactures hybrid-pixel detectors to spark scientific breakthroughs around the world. DECTRIS detectors count individual electrons and X-ray photons with the highest possible signal to noise ratio. Our customers benefit from ultimate speed, accuracy and dynamic range when working with the most demanding applications. In addition to pushing the limits of transmission electron microscopy for materials sciences, DECTRIS detectors are well suited for protein and small-molecule electron crystallography. We support researchers everywhere from our offices in Switzerland and the United States.

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