Types of Microscopes

(handwritten and signed copy left in college)

1. Stereo microscopes
Stereo microscopes are used to look at a variety of samples that you
would be able to hold in your hand. A stereo microscope provides a
3D image or "stereo" image and typically will provide magnification
between 10x - 40x. The stereo microscope is used in manufacturing,
quality control, coin collecting, science, for high school dissection
projects, and botany. A stereo microscope typically provides both
transmitted and reflected illumination and can be used to view a
sample that will not allow light to pass through it. The following are
samples often viewed under a stereo microscope: coins, flowers,
insects, plastic or metal parts, printed circuit boards, fabric weaves,
frog anatomy, and wires.

2. Compound Microscopes
A compound microscope may also be referred to as a
biological microscope. Compound microscopes are used in
laboratories, schools, wastewater treatment plants, veterinary
offices, and for histology and pathology. The samples viewed
under a compound microscope must be prepared on a
microscope slide using a cover slip to flatten the sample.
Students will often view prepared slides under the microscope
to save time by eliminating the slide preparation process.
The compound microscope can be used to view a variety of
samples, some of which include: blood cells, cheek cells,
parasites, bacteria, algae, tissue, and thin sections of organs.
Compound microscopes are used to view samples that cannot
be seen with the naked eye. The magnification of a compound
microscope is most commonly 40x, 100x, 400x, and
sometimes 1000x. Microscopes that advertise magnification
above 1000x should not be purchased as they are offering
empty magnification with low resolution.
3. Transmission electron microscope
Transmission electron microscopy (TEM, an
abbreviation which can also stand for the instrument,
a transmission electron microscope) is a microscopy
technique in which a beam of electrons is transmitted
through a specimen to form an image. The specimen
is most often an ultrathin section less than 100 nm
thick or a suspension on a grid. An image is formed
from the interaction of the electrons with the sample
as the beam is transmitted through the specimen. The
image is then magnified and focused onto an imaging
device, such as a fluorescent screen, a layer of
photographic film, or a sensor such as a scintillator
attached to a charge-coupled device.
Transmission electron microscopes are capable of
imaging at a significantly higher resolution than light
microscopes, owing to the smaller de Broglie
wavelength of electrons. This enables the instrument
to capture fine detail—even as small as a single
column of atoms, which is thousands of times smaller
than a resolvable object seen in a light microscope. Transmission electron microscopy is a major
analytical method in the physical, chemical and biological sciences. TEMs find application in cancer
research, virology, and materials science as well as pollution, nanotechnology and semiconductor
research, but also in other fields such as paleontology and palynology.

4. Scanning tunneling microscope

A scanning tunneling microscope (STM) is
an instrument for imaging surfaces at the
atomic level. Its development in 1981
earned its inventors, Gerd Binnig and
Heinrich Rohrer (at IBM Zürich), the Nobel
Prize in Physics in 1986. For an STM, good
resolution is considered to be 0.1 nm lateral
resolution and 0.01 nm (10 pm) depth
resolution. With this resolution, individual
atoms within materials are routinely imaged
and manipulated. The STM can be used not
only in ultra-high vacuum but also in air,
water, and various other liquid or gas
ambient, and at temperatures ranging from
near zero kelvin to over 1000 °C.
STM is based on the concept of quantum
tunneling. When a conducting tip is brought very near to the surface to be examined, a bias (voltage
difference) applied between the two can allow electrons to tunnel through the vacuum between them. The
resulting tunneling current is a function of tip position, applied voltage, and the local density of states
(LDOS) of the sample. Information is acquired by monitoring the current as the tip's position scans across
the surface, and is usually displayed in image form. STM can be a challenging technique, as it requires
extremely clean and stable surfaces, sharp tips, excellent vibration control, and sophisticated electronics,
but nonetheless many hobbyists have built their own.