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Rapid Stage: Large-Area Elemental Mapping in SEM

High-Speed, Large-Area Mapping in an Electron Microscope

Rapid Stage is a modular piezo-based stage that is mounted on top of the standard SEM stage enabling high-speed, seamless mapping over large areas. Rapid stage can be used in conjunction with EDS, micro-XRF and WDS.

Key Facts and Benefits

  • Compatible with most SEM stages.
  • Travel speed up to 10 mm/s.
  • Enables direct scanning of areas up to 50 mm × 50 mm; for larger map areas it works in conjunction with the SEM stage – the maximum area is limited only by the size of the SEM chamber.  
  • Applicable for variable pressure (VP) mode - from low vacuum (LV) to high vacuum (HV).
  • Can be quickly mounted onto, or removed from, the SEM stage in one simple step.
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Figure 1: Rapid Stage sits on top of standard SEM stages where it can be used to move samples in either the X or Y directions, enabling continuous large-area mapping. 
Figure 2: Example of Rapid Stage within a SEM in conjunction with micro-XRF.

Rapid Stage for QUANTAX EDS

Using the Rapid Stage with QUANTAX EDS enables fast, seamless large-area elemental mapping without stitching effects for all common sample types. 

In this example (Figure 4) we compare elemental maps of a credit card chip captured via SEM EDS with and without Rapid Stage.

Figure 3: Schematic illustrating how in conventional SEM EDS the electron beam is rastered across the sample (left) whereas in SEM EDS with Rapid Stage the sample is moved under the fixed electron beam (right). 
Figure 4: SEM EDS map of a credit card chip taken without (left) and with (right) Rapid Stage. The elemental map gathered using Rapid Stage shows continuous data whereas the map taken without rapid stage shows stitching effects.

Rapid Stage for QUANTAX Micro-XRF 

Rapid Stage significantly enhances micro-XRF performance by enabling fast, high-precision scanning across large samples.

This is valuable in applications where detailed trace element mapping is required. The smooth, automated movement of Rapid Stage ensures consistent data quality without stitching artifacts.

The combination of Rapid Stage with QUANTAX Micro-XRF enables researchers to produce comprehensive large-area elemental maps, such as in this example of a geological sample (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Micro-XRF maps captured via SEM XRF of a Cu-rich geological sample from the El Tesoro mine in Chile. The analytical area is 40 x 20 mm².

Rapid Stage for QUANTAX WDS

WDS offers high spectral resolution elemental mapping, particularly useful for resolving overlapping peaks and detecting trace or light elements. However, conventional WDS mapping can be time intensive. Scanning the beam at low magnification is not suitable due to signal loss at high angles.

Using QUANTAX WDS with Rapid Stage overcomes these limitations - dramatically improving speed and efficiency making large-area WDS mapping possible within a reasonable measurement time.

In the example shown (Figure 6) even elements with overlapping peaks were acurately mapped in an ore sample of 2.9 mm x 2.2 mm. 

Figure 6: Element distribution maps of 2.9 mm x 2.2 mm taken via SEM WDS with Rapid Stage in just over one hour. WDS allows for elements with overlapping peaks, e.g. Fe and Co, to be resolved at high-resolution.  

Want to Learn More about the Rapid Stage? 

To find out more about the Rapid Stage and how it can help you in your application contact one of our experts. 

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