The Three Types of Electron Microscope

An electron microscope is a different type of microscope in that it allows a person to see microscope images magnified up to two million times. This is in contrast to the best of the light microscopes, which limit a person’s ability to see images magnified up to only two thousand times.

Fortunately, for those folks who require electron microscopes to do their job, they have a wide range of types to choose from and each is completely different from the other.

There are three types of electron microscopes -

• Transmission electron microscope
• Scanning electron microscope
• Scanning tunneling electron microscope

The father of these three types of microscopes is the transmission electron or TEM, as it is often referred to. It transmits electrons through a small slice of a specimen in order for the image to be seen. These types of microscopes are great for seeing inside the cells of beings on the planet. Much has been learnt by using these microscopes for viewing all types of various cells.
The two other types of the electron microscope, namely the scanning tunneling and the scanning are two very in depth types of microscopes that are used to view specimens. Both use atoms and electrons to view items, but the tunneling microscope creates a tunneling current between the tip of the microscope and the actual electrons in order to create an image. The scanning microscope on the other hand can make a 3D image that can make looking at cells and other minute specimens simpler and more in depth than ever experienced before.

Various types of the electron microscope are available for folks to view specimens. These types of microscopes are great to view items, such as cells that folks once thought would never be seen by humans. Thanks to great technology, these specimens can be viewed in three dimensions, which can offer folks more wiggle room in order to study and learn the ins and outs of these specimens. Making strides in helping folks has never been more simple thanks to the invention of the many types of electron microscopes that are on the market today.

Disadvantages of Electron Microscopes

Ever since microscopy first came into being together with the widespread use of microscopes for scientific research, continual development has taken place in order to come up with the best possible magnifying instrument for the job. Electron microscopes are sophisticated types of magnification devices that offer researchers and scientists the opportunity to look at items in a completely different light.

The images provided by the various types of electron microscope are of very high quality and can be magnified many more times than traditional light microscopes. This has resulted in the advancement of research to new levels. However, they are also very expensive to build and maintain which means that you need to carefully consider what you are looking for in a microscope before investing in one.
One of the reasons that an electron microscope is so costly is due to the voltage that is required in order to operate these microscopes. Light microscopy and the microscopes that are used with it are great for the average hobbyist, but the electron microscope is not for those folks. These costly magnifying tools can run into the thousands of dollars to buy which is why they are more common in studies with big budgets that also require the much superior levels of magnification.

Besides the cost, today’s electron microscopes have additional disadvantages that need to be taken into account. One of these is in how the samples have to be prepared. Since this is an electron scope, the electron particles need to be excited and coated with certain materials, such as gold in some instances, in order to be seen properly. In addition, specimens also have to be viewed within a vacuum tube and if those samples are not prepared correctly, the microscope images will not view properly.

It is fair to say that electron microscopes we have today have come a long way since the beginning of microscopy. You are now able to see things as small as the individual molecules that make up microscope images. However, you should definitely do your homework before investing in an electron microscope since the time involved in prepping samples and making sure that the specimen is ready for viewing can be too much for many researchers. On the other hand, if you are going to invest in one of these devices, the images that can be produced from these microscopes can be truly awe-inspiring.