The Gatan model 656 will reduce with minimal damage the central region of a typical 100µm thick 3mm Ø specimen blank to <3µm in times ranging from 20 mins for silicon to 100 mins for sapphire. This is sufficiently thin for examination in intermediate voltage TEMs. The system enables accurate dimpling to be performed without prior knowledge of the specimen thickness and resulting in an exceptionally smooth surface. This reduces the possibility of surface irregularities developing in the brief final thinning