Mounting Media

What is sample mounting media?

Sample mounting media is a material used to hold a sample (often a silicon chip) in place, usually during imaging. It must be easy to apply and remove without damaging the sample or leaving behind any contamination.

What are the best Apiezon products to use as sample mounting media?

Apiezon waxes are manufactured by M&I Materials Ltd and are known worldwide for their quality, consistency and versatility. The range features three types of wax which are all excellent mounting media, used extensively as both temporary and permanent adhesive silicon chip mounts.

Apiezon waxes are particularly popular because they melt at a range of different temperatures and are therefore compatible with a variety of mounting applications.

Apiezon Wax W is the hardest of the waxes with the highest melting point; Wax W100 is inherently softer, thus improving damping and reducing potential damage due to vibration. Wax W40 is the softest, with a melting point of 45°C; it can be prepared for use in hot water for application to heat sensitive joints.

Dissolving Apiezon waxes in hydrocarbon solvents makes them suitable for spin coating; capable of producing thin conformal layers on substrates. Evaporation of the solvent leaves a thin layer of wax with excellent adhesive properties.

In addition, Apiezon waxes have very low vapour pressures, allowing vacuum processes to remove the possibility of air bubbles being trapped in the wax layer. They also have strong absorption properties providing a powerful ‘gettering’ action and allowing them to absorb unwanted impurities.