After the films have been exposed and removed, they must be properly processed under the appropriate darkroom conditions.  Whatever your need, Electron Micrography Products allow you to obtain high-quality images for a variety of specimens and instrument conditions:

Electron Microscope Film 4489 - produces high-quality images without special processing procedures. Use for general purpose applications.

Electron Image Film SO-163 - extremely versatile, they can be processed for maximum, intermediate, or minimum speed by adjusting the development conditions.

Machine Processing

The trend in processing film is toward mechanization. By this means, large quantities of film can be processed with an immense saving in time, labor, and working space. Such equipment could be used in conjunction with other departments using photography to amortize the initial cost. The savings in time may justify the cost of a machine in cases where smaller quantities of negatives are needed in a minimum length of time.

Most film processors deliver processed and dried negatives in a matter of minutes. For information about mechanized processing, contact your Electron Microscope Products Dealer.

Processing for Image Stability

Your micrograph negatives should have a satisfactory life-span if you follow the guidelines in this publication. For more extended life and maximum stability, you must process your micrographs according to very specific procedures and with special precautions. When mixing chemical solutions, measure accurately and avoid contamination of one solution with another. Maintain a uniform temperature throughout processing, and test your micrograph negatives to assure that your processing effectively removed fixer and unwanted silver compounds.

Development Guidelines and Procedures

Besides exposure, four main considerations govern the density, contrast, and uniformity of the negative. These factors are: the type of developer, the developer temperature, the length of development, and the agitation during development.

EM films should be developed with continuous agitation for the time listed in Table C: Developing EM Films. The intermediate speed is recommended for general applications with an intermediate signal to noise ratio (S/N). The minimum speed should be used with stable specimens with maximum S/N results. The maximum speed will yield the best results for unstable specimens with low S/N results.

Three of the development conditions shown in Table C: Developing Films require the use of Anti-Fog, No. 1 (benzotriazole). Because benzotriazole is only slightly soluble in water or developer solution, the most convenient method for adding it to freshly prepared developer solutions is to use a stock solution of Anti-Fog, No. 1 in ethylene glycol.

To prepare a stock solution, you will need:

• 700.0 ml of ethylene glycol (high purity)
• 166.7 gm of Anti-Fog,
  No.1 (benzotriazole) in powder form*
  *Do not use the tablet form. Each tablet contains only 0.03 gram of benzotriazole.
  For this solution alone, over 5,500 tablets (110 50-tablet bottles) would be needed.

Warm the ethylene glycol to 120F (49C). Add the Anti-Fog, No.1 and stir until completely dissolved. Cool to 75F (24C). Add ethylene glycol to make a total volume of 1 litre and stir until the solution is uniform. If the stock solution is stored in a stoppered brown bottle, it may be kept indefinitely. For each gram of Anti-Fog, No. 1 required, use 6 ml of the prepared stock solution.