Figure 1.

(a) Chip mounted on a SPINE pin-like steel holder. (b) Close-up view of a chip glued on a holder, with SEM images of the microporous membrane in the inset: a top view showing the hole dimension and spacing (left) and a side view of the flipped and cut-off membrane showing its thickness (right). Both inset images are on the same scale. (c, d, e) Chip-loading principle. (c) A liquid suspension of crystals is deposited on the well side of the chip. (d) The excess liquid is blotted away by applying a flat piece of blotting paper on the flat side. (e) Only a minimal amount of liquid is left. The sample is then immediately preserved from dehydration by flash-cooling in liquid nitrogen or cool nitrogen gas. The schemes are not to scale.