Premium
A wet stage modification to a scanning electron microscope
Author(s) -
Robinson V. N. E.
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
journal of microscopy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.569
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2818
pISSN - 0022-2720
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2818.1975.tb04538.x
Subject(s) - scanning electron microscope , stage (stratigraphy) , materials science , electron microscope , nanotechnology , surface modification , environmental scanning electron microscope , optics , chemical engineering , composite material , physics , engineering , geology , paleontology
SUMMARY A modification to the vacuum system of a JSM2 scanning electron microscope has enabled hydrated specimens to be placed inside the specimen chamber of the instrument and to be surrounded by water vapour at a pressure up to approximately 1.3 kPa (10 Torr). The surface topography was observed by detecting the backscattered electrons using a wide angle backscattered electron detector placed close to the specimen. The microscope was operated in the normal scanning mode which allowed the examination of the surface topography of the specimens, whilst still retaining the depth of focus which is a feature of the SEM. This modification has enabled a resolution of approximately 0.2 μm to be obtained from biological specimens partially immersed in water at temperatures just above 0°C.