Uses of a Scanning Electron Microscope

Just about everyone uses a light microscope at some point in their education, but far fewer have ever come in contact with a scanning electron microscope. Electron microscopy has uses in just about any field of science. The SEM offers better resolution and magnification of objects, useful to those such as biologists and doctors who study cells and tissue. Owning a scanning electron microscope, however, is not cheap or easy.

• A small electron microscope.

Identification

• A scanning electron microscope (SEM) forms an image using electrons instead of light, according to Purdue's Radiological and Environmental Management Division. The SEM shoots a column of electrons at a sample, and when the electrons hit the sample, X-rays are reflected back at the microscope. The X-rays then appear on screen to form the final image. The SEM image is clearer and can magnify images many times that of a light microscope.

Science Research

• Just about any scientific field can use an SEM as a research tool, according to Iowa State University. Biology researchers can look closer into individual cells of plants and animals with a scanning electron microscope. Chemistry academics use the SEM to look at the crystalline structures of chemical compounds and how their bonds form. A scanning electron microscope is especially useful for looking at the surfaces of materials at an atomic level.

Medicine

• An SEM is used mostly by biologists and medical professionals. A doctor can look at the structure of the body not normally observed well by a light microscope. A specific example of medicinal benefits of an SEM is the appearance of chondrocytes, cells in bone cartilage. Under a light microscope, chondrocytes appear to be in a jelly-like substance, but under a scanning electron microscope are actually seen as part of a hard, structured matrix, according to "Biological Electron Microscopy."

Forensics

• The use of electron microscopy even expands to the field of forensics, where the SEM can be essential in capturing a criminal or proving guilt or innocence, according to electron microscope provider FEI. The SEM is especially useful for criminal evidence because a forensic-specific SEM can create a vacuum that preserves the natural state of a sample. Detectives can take hair from a crime scene and compare it to any potential suspects.

Disadvantages

• While the SEM offers a host of advantages over a traditional microscope, it does have a few disadvantages. A scanning electron microscope is not something that anybody can afford; it can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars on top of maintenance costs. According to the John Innes Center, using a scanning electron microscope requires additional training and an often difficult sample preparation method.