Patent ID: 8716676

Claim:
A method for loading and unloading a transmission electron microscope (TEM) sample holder into and out of a plasma cleaner vacuum chamber while minimizing the possibility of damage or recontamination to the specimen or specimen stage by use of an entry formed in the vacuum chamber, the apparatus comprising: selecting a loading guide corresponding to the TEM sample holder and securing the loading guide to the vacuum chamber through an accepting gate secured to an aperture in the sample chamber; inserting the TEM sample holder into the loading guide laterally through a side entry slot in the loading guide; orienting the TEM sample holder to a selected orientation within the loading guide by registering an alignment pin on the TEM sample holder with a groove in the loading guide; inserting the oriented TEM sample holder axially through the loading guide and into the vacuum chamber; viewing the TEM sample holder while it is inserted into the loading guide using a viewing port in the loading guide; and removing the TEM sample holder while viewing it through the viewing port to insure that the specimen stage and specimen have properly cleared the loading guide.