NetSEM for LEO 400 series microscopes makes the remote control of an SEM over the internet or telephone line a reality. Unlike current commercially available remote control applications which duplicate a Windows session on a remote PC, NetSEM presents a customizable interface which is accessed via a Web browser and uses lossy compression techniques to optimize SEM image transfer over high, variable and low bandwidth connections.

This article outlines how projection x-ray microscopy can be used to view the structures that develop within solidifying metals during the freezing process (in real-time and in situ), A description of x-ray microscopy methods will be given. The specialized furnace design and techniques required to permit observation of solidification phenomena will also be described. This forms the outline of the salient features of our X-ray Transmission Microscope (XTM) for solidification studies. This instrument is being developed for microgravity materials research at NASA's Space Science Laborataory in the Marshall Space Flight Center, Alabama. Finally, a sampling of radiomicrographs taken during alloy solidification will be presented.

The of use this material goes back to the days when fractography was done by TEM because SEM was not commercially available, There is, therefore, some very old literature on how to use the material, but since most of it is art, anyway, most current authors assume that the reader is generally familiar with the technique.

There are actually two purposes in using this material. Even for relatively small samples, it may be necessary to remove corrosion products in a nondestructive manner. In my opinion the best way to do this is to use acetone-softened cellulose acetate, which will remove the corrosion product but leave what is left of the metal.