Apply about 0.4 grams of thermal paste to the square depression of the copper plate and to the cold surface of the peltier already attached to the copper cooling block. Connect the peltier cold surface to the copper plate depression with downward pressure. Then clean the excess thermal paste.
Mount the 3D printed bracket on the top of the copper cooling block and then use a hex key to tighten two 832 0.5-inch-long screws to fix the bracket to the copper plate. Place the copper plate into the 3D printed isolation base for thermal isolation from the benchtop or microscope base during operation. The cooling stage is assembled and ready to use.
The cooling stage is designed for a typical upright microscope stage with easy insertion and removal. When cooling immobilization is needed for imaging or screening, the cooling stage is placed on the microscope stage to finish the installment, and vice versa. A thermal couple thermometer used to track the surface temperature of the plate placed on the cooling stage showed that the stage cooled down the plate from 20 degrees to six degrees Celsius in six minutes to one degree Celsius in 10 minutes and eventually stabilized below minus seven degrees Celsius in around 40 minutes.
