Electron Microscopes

A whole new world to be seen

SEM of a plant preparation in cryo conditions, -180 SEM image of a snowflake, color has been added.
degrees Celsius.
 What is an electron microscope?
Most microscopes you may have seen are light microscopes,
they use a lightbulb to illuminate the specimen. A light
microscope is limited to a resolution up to 3 micrometers
(magnification up to 1500X). After that, two objects close
together do not look separate.

In electron microscopy, high resolution images are the

result of using electrons as the source of illumination.
The resolution is about 0.01 nanometers (magnification
up to 300,000X).

There are two main types of electron microscopes (EM),

the scanning EM (SEM), and the transmission EM (TEM).
 Scanning Electron Microscope(SEM)
The main parts to an SEM are: source
of electrons, a column for them to
travel with electromagnetic lenses,
an electron detector, sample chamber,
and a computer and display to view
the images.

A high energy beam of electrons is aimed at the sample. As they

interact with the sample, secondary electrons and X-rays are
produced. Those signals are collected by the detectors and an
image is formed on the computer screen.
 The image to the below is an SEM of a
tardigrade (color has been added). They are
a water-dwelling, eight-legged micro-
animal. The “water bears” have been
found everywhere, from mountains to
mud volcanos. They are the most resilient
known animals, they have even survived
exposure to outer space. To the left is a
light microscope image for comparison of
the resolution.

The image above is an SEM of a hydrothermal worm.

This worm does not have a digestive tract, it can
absorb carbon compounds directly.

SEM of 3D Graphene on Nickel Foam

 Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM)

The TEM is a little different than the SEM. A tungsten filament

is used to make an electron beam in a vacuum chamber, then,
instead of bouncing off the surface of the sample, the beam
passes through it. The sample is a very thin slice of material, less
than 100nm. When the electrons pass through, they hit a
phosphor screen, CCD or film and an image is made.

TEM can have a resolution of 0.2nm, that is smaller than the

size of most atoms. The TEM can show the structural
arrangement of atoms in a sample material.
TEM of E. coli

Atomic resolution,
demonstrated on a single
crystal

High Resolution TEM (HR-

TEM) image of a crystal
showing the 3.82 Å lattice
spacing very clearly. Small
defects in the crystal on the
atomic scale show up as
differences in contrast,
sharpness and position of the
atoms.
 References

Created by Diana Ashby

https://www.robin-noorda.com/colored-sem.html
https://theydiffer.com/difference-between-a-light-microscope-and-an-electron-microscope/
https://www.umassmed.edu/cemf/whatisem/
https://microbiologyinfo.com/differences-between-light-microscope-and-electron-microscope/
https://www.azonano.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=1723