QUANTIFOIL® is a carbon film for electron microscopy or low-energy electron point source microscopy.

• 1 µm circular holes and a space between the holes of 2 µm
• Mounted on copper, nickel or gold grids
• Foil is 12 nm thick
• Thicknesses between 10 and 25 nm upon request

QUANTIFOIL® is a perforated support foil with pre-defined hole size, shape and arrangement that has advantages in electron microscopy (EM) or low-energy electron point source (LEEPS) when compared with conventional holey film. QUANTIFOIL® with circular holes is used in cryo-electron tomographic reconstruction. The roundness of the holes is advantageous with respect to the formation of an ice layer of constant thickness.

The hole size chosen depends on the magnification used, and on whether or not one wishes to include support film in the image. Assessment of the image quality is easier when foil is included in the picture, because the power spectrum of a foil is stronger than that of unsupported ice.

QUANTIFOIL® R 1/2 has 1 µm circular holes and a space of 2 µm between the holes. The QUANTIFOIL® types with small holes (e.g. 1.2 µm) were designed for magnifications around and higher 50000x.

QUANTIFOIL® R 1/4 has a hole size of 1 µm. Space between holes is 4 µm. The R 1/4 may be preferred over R 1.2/1.3, when an increased tolerance with respect to the position of beam, and a larger beam diameter are desired, such as in the case of automated image acquisition. holes (e.g. 1.2 µm) were designed for magnifications around and higher 50000x.