TMC, with the assistance of scientists and engineers at the University of Texas’ Petawatt Laser Project and the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, has developed a vacuum compatible optical top. By combining our inherently clean CleanTop® design with several new proprietary design features, cleaning methods, and a vacuum pump-down procedure, we have been able to achieve a level of vacuum compatibility that was previously unattainable.

       Engineers for the Petawatt Laser Project have achieved
                          8 x 10-7 torr in a 7-foot diameter, 380 cubic
  foot vacuum chamber containing a
  14-foot long TMC vacuum compatible  CleanTop optical top.

           
     The optical top’s design keeps out-gassing to a minimum, ensuring that optics are not damaged. (Attaining the target vacuum level would be of little value if the top emitted enough contamination to damage the optics.) In separate testing, this top caused less than a 0.1% loss in the optical transmission of a test optic.

The 730 Series Vacuum Compatible Optical Top is the latest of many large optical tops that TMC has provided to both the Petawatt Laser Project and NIF.

Click here for more information about the Vacuum Compatible CleanTop^® Optical Top.




TMC is the world’s leading manufacturer of precision vibration isolation systems for low-amplitude building floor vibration.

Dr. Bruce MacIver’s neuropharmacology laboratory at Stanford University’s School of Medicine performs the exacting science of electrophysiological recordings of nerve cells to investigate the effects of anesthesia and analgesic drugs on the central nervous system. These vibration-sensitive experiments are conducted on a TMC model 63-531 high-performance vibration isolation table.

One such hour-long recording was underway last fall when a magnitude 5.4 earthquake was registered at Alum Rock, California, approximately 40 miles from the MacIver Lab in Palo Alto.

“We were about 10 minutes into the experiment, monitoring the communication between nerve cells when the quake hit,” said Dr. MacIver. “The building shook, windows rattled and coffee cups traveled across the desk but, incredibly, the recording remained intact. This experiment is exquisitely sensitive. The slightest vibration will kill the nerve cells – even small bubbles that pop in the perfusion chamber can adversely affect the baseline spike amplitudes. I was flabbergasted at the table’s performance.”

Dr. MacIver’s research involves the cellular, synaptic and molecular mechanisms of action of central nervous system (CNS) drugs, especially barbiturates, opiates, anesthetics and other CNS depressants. He uses electrophysiological recording techniques and selective pharmacological probes in hippocampal and cortical brain slices to investigate the sites and mechanisms of these agents with a long-term goal of providing physiological background information required for the rational design of safer and more effective drugs.

Dr. MacIver’s model 63-531 lab table, a standard TMC offering, features TMC’s highly damped, stainless steel laminate top plate and patented Gimbal Piston™ isolators that achieve both horizontal and vertical isolation down to very low frequencies and input levels. These tables are recommended for use in such diverse applications as electrophysiology, cell injection, ultramicrotomy, scanning tunnel microscopy, and confocal laser scanning microscopy.

“We were
about 10 minutes
into the experiment,
monitoring the communication
between
nerve cells when
the quake hit”

Features

• Incorporates patented
  Stacis® technology
• Active inertial vibration
  cancellation
• 34 x 40 x 5.5 inches
• Load capacity: 900-1,600 lbs.
• Extended stroke piezoelectric
  actuators, up to 60 μm
• 3 or 6 active
  degrees-of-freedom
• No soft air suspension
• Casters allow easy portability, no lifting required

For more information about the FloorPlatform PZT™ click here
or contact the TMC Application Engineer for your area.

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TMC’s new FloorPlatform PZT™ features sub-Hz vibration cancellation in an active, hard-mount floor platform that fits most commercial scanning electron microscopes. SEMs are among the most vibration-sensitive tools made, and these precision instruments typically incorporate their own internal vibration isolation system. FloorPlatform PZT is compatible with all SEM internal vibration isolation systems.

FloorPlatform PZT is a compact, cost-effective alternative to our patented Stacis® active vibration cancellation system. It incorporates Stacis technology but has a much smaller footprint and installs easily with minimal tuning. Simply put the SEM on the platform and you’re done.