The Centre houses the necessary equipment to prepare specimens for both materials and biological research. Specimens are prepared with assistance from a dedicated sample preparation team. Facilities and techniques include diamond wire saws, a diamond disc saw, cold mounting, a hot mounting press, grinding and polishing machines, a suite of Gatan PIPS ion mills, and an ion-cross polisher. For SEM analysis of electrically nonconductive materials, there are two sputter coaters for gold, iridium or carbon coating. The Centre also has an ultramicrotome and a critical point dryer for the preparation of biological samples.