Electron microscope

The electron microscope is a microscope that can magnify very small details with high resolving power due to the use of electrons rather than light to scatter off material, magnifying at levels up to 500,000 times.

History

The first electron microscope was built by the German physicist Ernst Ruska. He knew that electrons possess a wave aspect, so he believed he could treat them in a fashion similar to light waves. Ruska was also aware that magnetic fields could manipulate electrons, possibly focusing them as optical lenses do light. After confirming these principles through research, he set out to design an electron microscope. Ruska had deduced that an electron microscope would be much more powerful than an ordinary optical microscope, because he knew that magnification increased with shorter reflective waves. Since electron waves were shorter than ordinary light waves, it followed that they would allow for greater magnification. In 1932 Ruska and a collaborator, German physicist Max Knoll, under whom he obtained his doctorate, built the first crude electron microscope. Despite the fact that it was primitive and not fit for practical use, the instrument was still capable of magnifying objects 400 times.

Related Topics:
Ernst Ruska - Electron - Magnetic - Lens - Optical microscope - Magnification - Max Knoll

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Although modern electron microscopes can magnify an object 2 million times, they are still based upon Ruska's prototype and his correlation between wavelength and magnification. The electron microscope is an integral part of many laboratories. Researchers use it to examine biological materials (such as microorganisms and cells), a variety of large molecules, medical biopsy samples, metals and crystalline structures, and the characteristics of various surfaces.

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