Mar. 05, 2013

Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy: Imaging Droplet Adhesion

Understanding exactly how droplets and bubbles stick to surfaces - everything from dew on blades of grass to the water droplets that form on condensing coils after steam drives a turbine in a power plant - is a "100-year-old problem" that has eluded experimental answers, says MIT's Kripa Varanasi. Furthermore, it's a question with implications for everything from how to improve power-plant efficiency to how to reduce fogging on windshields.
moreFeb. 25, 2013

SEM and ESEM Observation of Stem Cells

Studying biological samples with scanning electron microscopy has specific requirements for their preparation. Sample drying is a particularly critical operation for objects such as cultured cells. The requirement for damaging drying step can be eliminated using environmental scanning electron microscopy. This study compares dried and wet samples of cultured human embryonic stem cells. It points to the advantages of both methods and to the complementarity of the information that they provide.
moreJan. 08, 2013

Dynamic Wettability Study at Nanoscale

Quantitative wettability study at nanoscale was developed using transmitted electrons in the environmental scanning electron microscope. Water condensation was studied for the initial stages of nucleation and growth over nano-thick self supported water films. Irregularities at the water film boundaries constituted nucleation sites for filmwise and dropwise condensation. In situ imaging provided nanodroplet growth power law dependence and a dynamic study of coalescence events.
moreSep. 27, 2012

UniColore Technology Improves Imaging Resolution

FEI Company has announced that they have added patented UniColore (UC) monochromated electron source to its Versa 3D DualBeam system.

UC technology improves the DualBeam's ability to image fine surface detail at low accelerating voltages without compromising its analytical performance at high voltages and beam currents. moreOct. 11, 2011

Filtration Membranes, Water and the ESEM

Great progress in the filtration performance of microfiltration membranes has been achieved in the past few years. As a consequence the structures of the respective membranes have become more and more intricate. New microscopic characterization methods are therefore necessary to reveal the membrane structure in full detail. The environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) has the potential for also studying microfiltration membranes in their wet state. The dynamics of the wetting and drying of the membrane surface can be imaged at sub-µm resolution. moreAug. 08, 2011

3D Elemental Mapping in the ESEM - A Combination of Serial Block-face SEM and EDS

The combination of serial block-face scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) is demonstrated for 3D elemental analysis of materials, enabling investigations of large sample volumes compared to other tomographic techniques. The approach involves cutting a stack of 200 slices from an aluminum-copper alloy specimen and generating EDS maps after each cut. moreMay. 26, 2011

Towards Real Time ESEM Imaging of Biological Processes

Historically, electron microscopy of dynamic biological processes has been impossible to achieve in real time because conventional electron microscopy requires specimen fixation, dehydration and metallic coating. The advent of the Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope (ESEM) removed these restrictions, allowing fully hydrated samples to be imaged in their native state. This raises the possibility of secondary electron imaging of dynamic biological processes. Well Suited to Biological Imaging moreApr. 11, 2011

ESEM in Plant Sciences - Versatile Tool to Study Native & Hydrated Plant Surfaces

ESEM (Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy) enables the investigation of native, hydrated and uncoated plant surfaces without further sample preparation and the in situ observation of dynamic processes at SEM resolution. A selection of representative plant samples and applications will be presented to show that ESEM is a versatile tool in plant science. moreNov. 01, 2009

Electron Microscopy of Soft Nano-materials

Imaging of soft matter, including polymeric and biological materials, has always been one of the big challenges in electron microscopy, due to the electrically insulating properties and radiation/vacuum-sensitive nature of such specimens. We briefly highlight recent advances that enable high-resolution characterization of soft nano-materials, in the native state, using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and environmental SEM (ESEM). moreJul. 01, 2007

Giovanni Valdrè: Imaging & Microscopy Welcomes New Advisor

Giovanni Valdrè: Imaging & Microscopy Welcomes New Advisor - The Imaging & Microscopy Advisory Board serves as a guardian for the journals scientific quality. In the most general term it is a sounding board and a conscience. The Imaging & Microscopy team is proud to introduce a new member of the advisory board: more