#Scanning Microscope

Electron microscopy reveals glow-in-the-dark bonding

Confocal Microscopy👩‍🔬🧫🦠🔬 Confocal microscopy is an advanced optical imaging technique that increases optical resolution and contrast by using a spatial pinhole to eliminate out-of-focus light. It is widely used in cell biology, microbiology, and biomedical research. 📌 Principle Confocal microscopy works on the principle of: Point illumination using a focused laser beam. A pinhole aperture placed in front of the detector blocks out-of-focus light. ⚙️ Main Components Laser light source – provides monochromatic, intense light. Beam splitter (dichroic mirror) – directs laser to the specimen. Objective lens – focuses laser onto a small point. Pinhole – removes out-of-focus light. Detector (photomultiplier tube) – detects emitted fluorescence. Computer system – reconstructs 2D and 3D images. 🔎 Working A computer reconstructs the image from scanned points. Multiple optical sections can be stacked to create a 3D image. ✅ Advantages High resolution and contrast Optical sectioning capability 3D reconstruction Reduced background noise ❌ Limitations Expensive equipment Photobleaching of fluorescent dyes Requires fluorescent labeling 🧪 Applications Cell structure analysis Protein localization Live cell imaging Microbial studies Tissue imaging ##explorepage #instagood #biotechnology #viralreels #animeedits

Scientists used to count cells by hand using a tiny glass grid, literally square by square under a microscope, keeping a manual tally the whole time. It worked, but it was slow and easy to lose track. Now this system snaps an image and counts the cells automatically, even telling you which ones are alive or dead in seconds. Science tools have had a serious upgrade and we’re leading the way with the latest tech. #science #stemcells #exosomes #biologics #lab

Microscopy lab vibes 🔬⚡️ We’re integrating a sub-terahertz (sub-THz) exposure platform directly onto our microscopes—so we can expose proteins while imaging them on our high-tech setup. The goal: controlled EM stimulation + real-time microscopy, all in one workflow. Theory background / reading: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.4c01553 (link in bio) #microscopy #terahertz #subthz #biophysics #proteins #proteinscience #bioelectronics #lablife #research #sciencecommunication #instrumentation #nanobio

Light microscopes hit their limit at about 200 nanometers, leaving much of the cell invisible. 🔬 Super-resolution fluorescence microscopy pushes past that boundary. By precisely controlling how fluorophores emit light, or by physically expanding samples, researchers can image proteins, viruses, and cellular structures at the nanoscale using visible light. These techniques are transforming how scientists study living cells and disease, without relying on electron microscopy. 🦠 Read more in “Optical tools bypass the visible diffraction limit” by Hank Hogan in the January/February issue of #PhotonicsFocus! #BrightBytes #Microscopy #photonics #optics

✨ The beauty of science ✨ Our summer student, Ellie Morrison, recently shared one of her highlights of being in our lab was using the confocal microscope. This video shows Ellie preparing her slides for visualisation using a confocal microscope. She created images like this using immunofluorescence combined with visualisation using the confocal microscope. Immunofluorescence is a staining technique which uses antibodies to specifically bind to proteins inside cells. Some antibodies are tagged with fluorescent markers to allow us to see exactly where different proteins are located. It is hard not to stop and admire such beautiful images, no wonder it was a highlight! 📷 Ellie Morrison filmed by Freya Weth. Photos from the Gillies McIndoe files. #ScienceIsBeautiful #ConfocalMicroscopy #Immunofluorescence #LabLife #STEM

In our Structure and Phases lab class, we looked at the microstructure of the phases that formed while this tin and lead alloy cooled. The solid “blobs” are what formed first during cooling, and the “stripes” are called eutectic microstructure. This one is about 40 weight percent tin and 60 weight percent lead. 📸 credit: MS&E student Jacklyn Warber.

A focussed ion bean (FIB) can be used to cut out thin slices out of semiconductor chips. Usually a gallium (Ga) beam under vacuum can be used to extract a so called ‘lamella’ which can then be transferred into a transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to study material cross-sections. For this to work, the material needs to be thin and the result is a very precise map of the layers involved, enhanced by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS or EDS) which is analytical technique to determine the chemical composition of a sample at the nanoscale. #FIB #lamella #gallium #TEM #EDS

The microscope helps us see what the eyes can’t and diagnose what matters.

Most people have never heard of Electron Microscopy — but imagine a career where your job is creating stunning images of things invisible to the naked eye 🔬✨   Delta College is the only community college in the United States offering an Electron Microscopy program, right here on our Stockton campus. Students learn how to operate advanced lap equipment, prepare real lab samples, capture microscopic images, and much more!   These skills lead to careers in biotech, research labs, and semiconductor manufacturing, many starting around $60–80K+ per year.   Career Technical Education Month is all about finding paths you didn’t know existed… this is one of them.
#CTEMonth #SJDeltaCollege #electronmicroscopy

From wet samples to ultra-high resolution 🔬 Sample preparation is the backbone of FESEM imaging. Every step matters—fixation, dehydration, coating—because details decide discoveries. Science happens before the image appears. 📍FESEM sample prep | Materials | Microbiology | Research life #FESEM #ElectronMicroscopy #SamplePreparation #MicroscopyLife #ResearchReels

To see the “invisible,” like bacteria, scientists rely on microscopes. But what about when they want to see all the way down to the atomic level? It turns out there are microscopes for that, too. The scanning tunneling microscope (STM) takes 3D images of individual atoms within a sample. In this room, NIST researchers design and create various samples that are then examined using the STM. This tool is useful for understanding how quantum materials behave and react to external factors such as heat and electricity. Understanding a material’s properties can determine its function, which is important for developing next-generation semiconductors and establishing new quantum standards. #Quantum #QuantumMaterials #QuantumMechanics #Atoms #Microscope