ELECTRON-BEAM EVAPORATOR FOR THE PREPARATION OF REPLICAS FROM FREEZE-FRACTURED BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES

An anode unit of an electron-beam evaporator with vacuum feedthroughs for the preparation of replicas from freeze-fractured biological sampl es is described. The evaporator has the following characteristics: ano de voltage, 5 keV; electron beam current, 100 mA; filament heating vol tage, 110 V; filament current, 20 A; vacuum 10(-5) Ton, anode-sample d istance, 150 mm; dimensions 100 x 100 mm(2); weight 200 g. The device is capable of providing more than 20 evaporation cycles without anode replacement. Evaporated substances include carbon, tungsten, platinum- carbon, platinum-palladium-carbon. Thicknesses of the deposited films are controlled by selecting the exposure duration, and the deposition rate is controlled by variation of the filament current.