Bx53m metallurgical microscope

The following instruments were used: SpectraMax iD3 microplate reader, manufactured by MD (Molecular Devices, San Jose, USA); Costar microplate, manufactured by Corning (New York, NY, USA); Keithley 2602B digital source meter, manufactured by Keithley (Beaverton, OR, USA) in the United States; BX53M metallurgical microscope, manufactured by Olympus (Tokyo, Japan) in Japan; MPP i5000 multi-function wire bonder, manufactured by K&S(Haifa, Israel).

Photo documentation was carried out with a Canon EOS 5DS R equipped with a Canon EF 100 mm/2.8 L Macro IS USM objective, using a Broncolor Siros 400 WiFi / RFS 2.1 illumination device in order to maintain constant colour temperature.
Light microscopic observations of the objects’ supposedly post-depositional fractured faces were carried out using integrated solutions by Olympus: an SZX-10 stereo microscope at magnifications up to 63-fold, and a BX53M metallurgical microscope with up to 500-fold magnification, both with integrated camera UC909 and the software Olympus Stream Basic, applying its Instant EFI (Extended Focal Imaging) image stacking function in order to improve depth-of-field of the photographed irregular surfaces.
The cleaned surfaces of ring A were additionally analysed using a Quanta 250 FEG environmental SEM in ‘Low Vacuum Mode’ and without prior sputter coating. We used acceleration voltages ranging from 5 to 15 kV in the generation of secondary electron images. Depth-of-field was enhanced in some cases by combining an image stack with the software Helicon Focus 7 [86 ].