The thin section preparation is used to make or produce sections of soft sediments (lacustrine and marine), hard rock, minerals, frozen kernels, organic materials, soils, ores and hygroscopic samples such as salts and clays. Thick and thin sections, ultrathin sections, polished sections, polished sections (single and double-sided), scattering devices, single crystals and reference samples of various formats can be produced. These are then used for further analysis on optical microscopes as …

Sample preparation instruments are available for all kinds of samples for scanning electron microscopes: Gold-Palladium Sputter Coater - Leica; Carbon Coater - Leica; Cryo Sample Preparation - Leica; Gatan Model 656 Dimple Grinder - a precision tool used to mechanically produce dimples in the surface of materials like ceramics, semiconductors and metals; Gatan Model Duo Mill 600 - a post-ion milling device used to prepare electron transparent specimens for transmission electron microscopy; …

The sample preparation laboratories provide facilities to prepare geological samples for a wide range of analytical methods. These include mineral separations for geochronologic analysis, mineral powders for geochemical analysis and polished thin sections for microscopy.

A special grinding laboratory enables the production of thin sections of various rock types. Precision saws in various sizes, a grinding machine (MPS), a lapping machine (Logitec) and a polishing machine are available for this.