This panel contains various controls to minimize the need to access the microscope's user interface. Its primary use is to facilitate control of the microscope via remote access, but it is more generally useful in a variety of situations, and allows the elimination of some common scripts. This panel is unique in that it can be completely eliminated from the set of tool panels if desired, using an entry in the Window menu.
Open/Close Valve(s) or Turn Beam On/Off
This button allows one to toggle the state of the beam: it opens or closes the column valves on a Thermo/FEI scope or the beam valve on a JEOL scope with a FEG, or it turns the filament on or off on other JEOL scopes.
Mag (CamL in diffraction)
Use this spin button to increase or decrease the magnification or the camera length in diffraction mode. If you click the button multiple times with a small enough time (< 0.35 sec) between clicks, the program will go several steps with just one magnification change. If you press and hold the Ctrl key first, the change will not occur until you release Ctrl, or until ~2.5 seconds since the last click. The new magnification will be displayed in the Microscope Status panel as soon as you click the button, prefixed by '->', so that you can know what magnification will be reached. The '->' will stay until the magnification change is achieved. This preview feature does not work on Thermo/FEI scopes in diffraction mode unless there is a CameraLengthTable entry in properties; see List Mags for a script to get such a table.
On Thermo/FEI scopes in STEM mode, it is not possible for SerialEM to switch between LM and nonLM magnifications, so this button will not work at that boundary. If necessary, you can go out of STEM, change magnification to enter or leave LM, and then return to STEM mode.
Intensity with Mag
Select this option to have the program change intensity when you change magnification with the Mag spin button, so as to maintain a constant beam brightness. Intensity must be within the calibrated range for the current spot size for this option to have any effect. This option works regardless of whether an equivalent function is turned on in the microscope user interface (intensity zoom, brightness zoom).
-> nPr / -> uPr (Thermo/FEI only)
Press this button to switch to the indicated nanoprobe of microprobe mode. It is disabled in low magnification mode.
Alpha (JEOL only)
Use this spin button to change the alpha setting; the current alpha is shown next to the button. It is disabled in low magnification mode.
Beam or Stage Up/Down, Left/Right
Use these two spin buttons to move either the beam or the stage in the indicated direction, depending on whether the 'B' or 'S' button is depressed. The size of the step is indicated by the text below the spin buttons and can be increased or decreased with the '+' and '-' buttons.
For beam movement in imaging mode, the step is expressed as a fraction of the camera field of view . For example, a step of 0.1 will move the beam by one-tenth of the field of view of the current camera. The same movements can be made with Shift and the Arrow keys, with the same step size. If beam shift is not calibrated for the current magnification range, the movements will be along the beam shift deflector axes by an approximate amount. In diffraction mode, these spin buttons will move the diffraction pattern on the camera. There is no calibration for this movement. The size of the movement is controlled by the property DiffractionShiftScaling, which may need to be set to give a useful amount of shift for the various step sizes.
For stage movement, the step is in microns, and the movement is in the direction that will shift the image on the current camera in the given direction.
Spot
Use this spin button to increase or decrease the spot size number. If you click the button multiple times with a small enough time (< 0.35 sec) between clicks, the program will go several steps with just one spot size change. If you press and hold the Ctrl key first, the change will not occur until you release Ctrl, or until ~2.5 seconds since the last click. The new spot size will be displayed in the Microscope Status panel as soon as you click the button, prefixed by '->', so that you can know what spot size will be reached.
C2/C3/IA
Use this spin button to increase or decrease the value of the intensity lens setting: the illuminated area on a Thermo/FEI Titan, C2 value on other Thermo/FEI scopes and Hitachi scopes, C3 value on JEOL scopes. The size of the change is indicated by the value below the button, in units of percent C2 or C3 or microns of illuminated area. This control requires no calibrations. The same changes can be made with Ctrl and the Up and Down Arrow keys, with the same step size.
Beam or Stage step -/+
If beam movement is selected, use these buttons to decrease or increase the step size for beam movement by a factor of 1.414. The same changes can be made with the < and > keys, and changes with those keys will appear in the size indicated here. If stage movement is selected, the step size will change to multiples of 1, 2 or 5.
Intensity step -/+
Use these buttons to decrease or increase the step size for changes in the intensity lens value. The same changes can be made with the Ctrl and the , (comma) or . (period) keys, and changes with those keys will appear in the size indicated here.
Raise/Lower Screen
Use this button to raise or lower the screen.x
Focus Up/Down
Use this spin button to change defocus.
Focus step -/+
Use these buttons to change the step size for focus changes, which is shown in microns; available steps range from 0.01 to 100.