Instrument charge rates

* Effective from September 1st 2023

Usage time on Imaging Instruments and Sample Preparation Equipment will be rounded up to the nearest 1/2 hour for billing. Minimum charge per use is by default 1 hour, except as noted below.

Base Rates

Base rates apply to unassisted use by Princeton University undergraduate students, graduate students, postdocs, research and technical staff, and faculty. If the usage is assisted by a member of the professional IAC staff, or if the user is from outside Princeton, the actual charge rate differs from the base rate, as described under "Rate Factors by User" and "Assistance Surcharges" below.

Optical Microscopy Current Rate* Minimum Use
Zeiss Axioscope A1 $22 one hour
Zeiss Discovery V12 Stereomicroscope $22 one hour
Leica DCM3D Confocal Microscope $40 one hour
Keyence VK-X3050 Confocal $50 one hour
Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)    
Quanta 200 FEG Environmental-SEM $50 one hour
Verios 460 XHR SEM $55 one hour
Focused Ion Beam System (FIB)    
Helios G3 DualBeam FIB/SEM $70 two hours
Aquilos 2 cryo-FIB $70 four hours
Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM)    
Talos L120C G2 $60 two hours
Talos F200X S/TEM equipped with SuperX-EDS $70 two hours
Titan Themis 80-300 Cubed Double Cs-corrected S/TEM $100 two hours
Titan Krios G3 300 TEM $168 four hours
Titan Krios G4 300 TEM $168 four hours
X-ray Scattering and Diffraction System    
Rigaku MiniFlex XRD/X-Ray Diffractometer $40 one hour
Xenocs Small-angle X-ray Scattering System (SAXS) $45 two hours
Zeiss Xradias Versa 520 3D X-ray microscope $45 two hours
Bruker D8 Discover X-Ray Diffractometer $50 one hour
Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM)    
Bruker NanoMan AFM $45 one hour
Bruker Dimension ICON3 AFM $55 two hours
Surface Analysis    
FLS980 Steady State, Phosphorescence/Fluorescence Lifetime Spectrometer $45 one hour
Horiba Raman Spectrometer $45 one hour
Nicolet iN10 MX Infrared Microscope $45 one hour
RAME-HART Goniometer $45 one hour
Thermo K-alpha X-ray Photoelectron Spectrometer (XPS-UPS) $45 one hour
UV-VIS Cary 5000 Spectrometer $45 one hour
Woollam M-2000 Ellipsometer $45 one hour
Thermo and Other Analysis Tools    
Anton Paar MCR501 Rheometer $40 one hour
Anton Paar MCR702 Rheometer $45 one hour
Differential Scanning Calorimeter 8500 (DSC) $45 one hour
Thermogravimetric Analyzer coupled to Clarus 680 SQ 8T Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer (TGA-GC/MS) $45 one hour
Dynamic Mechanical Analysis 8000 (DMA) $45 one hour
Keithley 4200-SCS Semiconductor Characterization System $45 one hour
Imaging and Analysis Sample Prep    
Cressington Carbon Coater $22 one hour
Fischione 1010 Dual-Beam Ion Mill $22 one hour
Vitrification Robot $22 one hour
Allied Multiprep Polisher $26 one hour
Leica Sputter Coater $26 one hour
Leica Ultracut UCT Microtome $26 one hour
VCR IBS/TM 200S Ion Beam Sputterer $26 one hour

Rate Factors by User

The factors listed below multiply the base rate, e.g., two hours' use of the Quanta 200 FEG Environmental-SEM at the base rate is $100.

User is conducting work for another academic institution. 2x
User is conducting work for an outside corporation. 4x

Assisted Surcharges

Assisted use of Imaging Instrument by a member of the professional IAC staff
This is a rate multiplier as defined under "Rate Factors by User", e.g., two hours' use of the Quanta 200 FEG Environmental-SEM by a Princeton graduate student (base rate) is $100, but if the student was assisted for these two hours, the charge will be $300 (3x). If only one of the two hours was assisted, the charge will be $50 (unassisted hour) + 3 x $50 (assisted hour) = $200.
3x
Assisted use of Sample Prep Equipment by a member of the professional IAC staff
This is a straight surcharge to which the user rate factors also apply, e.g., 1 hour of assisted use of the Ion Beam Sputter Coater will be billed at $26 (equipment use) + $75 (assistance) = $101 for a Princeton graduate student.
+$75/hour

Consumables

Consumables are charged on a cost-recovery plus handling basis; user rate factors do not apply to consumables charges.

AFM Tips (Si, tapping mode) contact Nan Yao (nyao@princeton.edu) or John Schreiber (js51@princeton.edu) for information. $30/each