Finally after 3 decades I had an opportunity to take some photographs on a Scanning electron microscope (SEM) again. Back in my earlier days my images were recorded on medium format film which allowed me to make very big prints. To my surprise the newer SEM - A Phillips XL30 - only produces 2 MB digital images saved as .tif files! In Photoshop I can push the images up to 10 x 15 inches 300 dpi but I lose sharpness and I would really like to be able to make even bigger images.
Below are a few SEM photos showing the cells of bamboo charcoal. I hope in the next few months to photograph some diatoms and radiolarians on the SEM. I have to pay an hourly fee to use the microscope, but considering SEM microscopes cost close to $500.000 and have hefty maintenance fees - I am OK with the hourly rate. I am glad just to have an opportunity to use the SEM again. The bottom photo shows a picture of the microscope I used - it's controlled using Windows 2000.
Bamboo charcoal showing individual cells - the charcoal did not require coating and samples were mounted on aluminum stubs with double sided copper tape.
Many universities rent out their microscopes for fees ranging from $100 to $300 per hour depending on whether you need a technician's assistance, whether your are a faculty member or a private user. Everyone needs technical assistance initially to learn how to use the scope, but they are not difficult to use.
Bamboo Charcoal viewed with a SEM
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- Robert Berdan
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- Robert Berdan
- Posts: 319
- Joined: Wed Oct 18, 2017 8:58 pm
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SEM Pictures
How many pictures per hour? I spent 2 hours and took 28 photos. Part of the time I was hunting for appropriate views and lookimg at different samples. So about one picture every 4-5 minutes. Taking a single photo can take 1-2 minutes as the electron beam scans the object and during this time all you can do is wait.
The scan resolution can also be adjusted. I have to read through the SEM manuals and use the scope without the technician and then I will push the scope to its limit. One has to adjust the accelerating voltage for different specimens. The digital images are only 8 bit .tif which is all researchers need for publication in scientific papers. However, I will see if I can't scan longer and increase the resolution and I may even try overlapping images to make "panoramas".
There are low resolution Desktop scanning electron microscopes from $60-120,000 dollars, But having the higher resolution is important if one wants to really enlarge the pictures. The largest I have been able to push the pictures so far is 10 x 15 inches and even then the start to look soft.
The older scanning electron micrographs produced medium format film - which I can scan and produce 24 x 36 inch prints with little to no grain. I am hoping to try some Diatoms and Radiolarians in the Spring.
The scan resolution can also be adjusted. I have to read through the SEM manuals and use the scope without the technician and then I will push the scope to its limit. One has to adjust the accelerating voltage for different specimens. The digital images are only 8 bit .tif which is all researchers need for publication in scientific papers. However, I will see if I can't scan longer and increase the resolution and I may even try overlapping images to make "panoramas".
There are low resolution Desktop scanning electron microscopes from $60-120,000 dollars, But having the higher resolution is important if one wants to really enlarge the pictures. The largest I have been able to push the pictures so far is 10 x 15 inches and even then the start to look soft.
The older scanning electron micrographs produced medium format film - which I can scan and produce 24 x 36 inch prints with little to no grain. I am hoping to try some Diatoms and Radiolarians in the Spring.