Scientific Artist Elinor Mossop Views the Magnified Images of the Testate Amoebae (Photo Courtesy Sam Bowser)

A Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) directs an extremely thin beam of electrons across a specimen in a raster pattern. At each point along the scan, the energy produced by electron bombardment on the surface of the specimen is detected and displayed on a screen, building up an image point-by-point. Information about the topology of the specimen, as well as its conductivity and elemental composition, is thus revealed at nanometer resolution.

View more information on SEMs here.


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