Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM)
-
Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) actively analyzes matter by magnifying its smallest structures, offering unparalleled detail at the atomic scale compared to optical microscopes, which rely on visible light. By accelerating electrons through a strong electromagnetic field, TEM achieves resolutions magnitudes higher than optical microscopy, as electrons possess significantly shorter wavelengths, about 100,000 times smaller than visible light. This enables TEM to magnify nanometer-scale structures up to 50 million times. To produce a TEM image, a high-energy electron beam is propelled through an ultra-thin "electron transparent" sample, usually less than 100 nm thick. Throughout the microscope's column, a series of electromagnetic lenses and apertures meticulously focus the beam onto the sample, minimizing distortions, and then magnify the resulting image onto either a phosphor screen or a specialized camera.
The transmission electron microscope (TEM) is employed to visualize thin specimens, such as tissue sections and molecules, allowing electrons to pass through and form a projection image. Similar to the conventional light microscope, TEM shares many characteristics. It is utilized for various purposes, including imaging the interior of cells, examining the structure of protein molecules, investigating the organization of molecules in viruses and cytoskeletal filaments through negative staining techniques, and studying the arrangement of protein molecules in cell membranes via freeze-fracture methods.
-
-
Ameh, T., Zarzosa, K., Dickinson, J., Braswell, W. E., & Sayes, C. M. J. F. i. M. (2023). Nanoparticle surface stabilizing agents influence antibacterial action. 14, 1119550.