Electron microscopy is a nanotechnology tool

Electron microscopy is a collection of electron-probe methods that make it possible to investigate the microstructure of solids, as well as their local composition and microfield.

With this method of research, special devices are used - microscopes, in which the image is magnified due to the presence of electron beams.

Electron microscopy has two main directions:

• Translucent - is carried out with the help oftransmissive electron microscopes, in which objects are illuminated by a beam of electrons with energies from 50 to 200 keV. Electrons that pass through the object under investigation are incident on special magnetic lenses. These lenses form an image of all internal structures of the object on a special screen or film. It must be said that transmission electron microscopy makes it possible to obtain an increase of almost 1.5 * 106 times. It makes it possible to judge the crystalline structure of objects, therefore it is considered the main method of investigation of ultrathin structures of various solids.

• Сканирующая (растровая) электронная микроскопия - is carried out with the help of special microscopes, in which an electron beam with the use of magnetic lenses is assembled into a thin probe. It scans the surface of the object under study, and secondary radiation arises, which is detected by various detectors and converted into corresponding video signals.

It is worth noting that electron microscopypossesses a number of advantages over traditional methods of X-ray spectral microanalysis. That is why it is becoming more and more widely known and can be called an important achievement of modern nanotechnology.

In addition, electron microscopycauses the intensive development of computer morphometry, the essence of which is the use of computer technology for more thorough and complete processing of electronic images.

На сегодняшний день разработаны hardware-software complexes that are able to memorize the received images and carry out their statistical processing, adjust their contrast and brightness, and isolate individual details of the microstructures under investigation.

Modern electron microscopes are equipped withspecial processors, which reduce the likelihood of damage to samples of the material under investigation, and also increase the reliability of data related to the analysis of microstructure of objects, which greatly facilitates the work of researchers.

The achievements of electronic microanalysis are activeare used to understand atomic interactions, which allows creating a material with new properties, and progressive three-dimensional modeling allows biologists to study the important molecular mechanisms that underlie all biological processes. In addition, due to the use of electron microscopy, it is possible to carry out a number of dynamic experiments and obtain the necessary base for the creation of new nanostructures.