Faraday Cage — Bench Top, Stand-Alone EMI Shield

Faraday Cage — Bench Top

The bench-top Faraday cage from Sutter Instrument adds electromagnetic shielding to an existing breadboard or optical table, reducing the electrical interference that can obscure small electrophysiological signals. Unlike the integrated cages available with the AT-3036-F and AT-3648-F air tables, this stand-alone version mounts on its own stainless steel base plate — the practical solution for labs that need to add EMI shielding for patch-clamp without replacing the workstation already in use.

Built to Retrofit Existing Tables

Breadboards with threaded or tapped holes are sold separately, so the cage can be matched to a tabletop already in use. Cages with custom cut-out base plates are also available on request, accommodating microscope pillars or stage brackets that pass through the floor of the cage.

Sizes and Mounting

The cage is offered in three footprints — 76 × 91 cm, 76 × 122 cm, and 91 × 122 cm — and requires a metric (M6) mounting kit, ordered separately, to match the hole pattern of the underlying table.

Applications

• Low-noise patch-clamp electrophysiology — mains hum, fluorescent lighting and nearby electronic equipment are dominant sources of 50/60 Hz interference in recording signals; the stainless steel cage attenuates these fields around the preparation. For whole-cell recordings below 10 pA, a Faraday cage for electrophysiology is considered essential practice.
• Retrofitting existing air tables with EMI shielding — labs that purchased an AT-3036 or AT-3648 without the -F Faraday option, or that use a third-party vibration isolation table, can add electromagnetic protection with this cage without changing the rest of the workstation setup.
• Cellular and sub-cellular microinjection — microinjection rigs that include electrophysiological monitoring benefit from combined vibration isolation and EMI shielding. This cage pairs with any existing anti-vibration table to complete that setup.