Qualitative microchemical analysis by microradiography with fluorescent screen

1947 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 208-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Engström
Author(s):  
J. A. Hugo ◽  
V. A. Phillips

A continuing problem in high resolution electron microscopy is that the level of detail visible to the microscopist while he is taking a picture is inferior to that obtainable by the microscope, readily readable on a photographic emulsion and visible in an enlargement made from the plate. Line resolutions, of 2Å or better are now achievable with top of the line 100kv microscopes. Taking the resolution of the human eye as 0.2mm, this indicates a need for a direct viewing magnification of at least one million. However, 0.2mm refers to optimum viewing conditions in daylight or the equivalent, and certainly does not apply to a (colored) image of low contrast and illumination level viewed on a fluorescent screen through a glass window by the dark-adapted eye. Experience indicates that an additional factor of 5 to 10 magnification is needed in order to view lattice images with line spacings of 2 to 4Å. Fortunately this is provided by the normal viewing telescope supplied with most electron microscopes.


Author(s):  
N. J. Zaluzec

The ultimate sensitivity of microchemical analysis using x-ray emission rests in selecting those experimental conditions which will maximize the measured peak-to-background (P/B) ratio. This paper presents the results of calculations aimed at determining the influence of incident beam energy, detector/specimen geometry and specimen composition on the P/B ratio for ideally thin samples (i.e., the effects of scattering and absorption are considered negligible). As such it is assumed that the complications resulting from system peaks, bremsstrahlung fluorescence, electron tails and specimen contamination have been eliminated and that one needs only to consider the physics of the generation/emission process.The number of characteristic x-ray photons (Ip) emitted from a thin foil of thickness dt into the solid angle dΩ is given by the well-known equation


Author(s):  
William J. Baxter

In this form of electron microscopy, photoelectrons emitted from a metal by ultraviolet radiation are accelerated and imaged onto a fluorescent screen by conventional electron optics. image contrast is determined by spatial variations in the intensity of the photoemission. The dominant source of contrast is due to changes in the photoelectric work function, between surfaces of different crystalline orientation, or different chemical composition. Topographical variations produce a relatively weak contrast due to shadowing and edge effects.Since the photoelectrons originate from the surface layers (e.g. ∼5-10 nm for metals), photoelectron microscopy is surface sensitive. Thus to see the microstructure of a metal the thin layer (∼3 nm) of surface oxide must be removed, either by ion bombardment or by thermal decomposition in the vacuum of the microscope.


Author(s):  
George Christov ◽  
Bolivar J. Lloyd

A new high intensity grid cap has been designed for the RCA-EMU-3 electron microscope. Various parameters of the new grid cap were investigated to determine its characteristics. The increase in illumination produced provides ease of focusing on the fluorescent screen at magnifications from 1500 to 50,000 times using an accelerating voltage of 50 KV.The EMU-3 type electron gun assembly consists of a V-shaped tungsten filament for a cathode with a thin metal threaded cathode shield and an anode with a central aperture to permit the beam to course the length of the column. The cathode shield is negatively biased at a potential of several hundred volts with respect to the filament. The electron beam is formed by electrons emitted from the tip of the filament which pass through an aperture of 0.1 inch diameter in the cap and then it is accelerated by the negative high voltage through a 0.625 inch diameter aperture in the anode which is at ground potential.


Author(s):  
J. E. Johnson

In the early years of biological electron microscopy, scientists had their hands full attempting to describe the cellular microcosm that was suddenly before them on the fluorescent screen. Mitochondria, Golgi, endoplasmic reticulum, and other myriad organelles were being examined, micrographed, and documented in the literature. A major problem of that early period was the development of methods to cut sections thin enough to study under the electron beam. A microtome designed in 1943 moved the specimen toward a rotary “Cyclone” knife revolving at 12,500 RPM, or 1000 times as fast as an ordinary microtome. It was claimed that no embedding medium was necessary or that soft embedding media could be used. Collecting the sections thus cut sounded a little precarious: “The 0.1 micron sections cut with the high speed knife fly out at a tangent and are dispersed in the air. They may be collected... on... screens held near the knife“.


1942 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Mudd ◽  
Thomas F. Anderson

The physical basis of contrast and image formation in electron micrography is considered in relation to the possibility of recording selective chemical effects on cell components. A technology of selective microchemical analysis, equivalent to differential staining, is suggested as practicable in electron micrography. Electron pictures of bacteria after exposure to salts of heavy metals have shown the bacterial inner protoplasm, but not the cell walls, to be selectively darkened; shrinkage, coagulation, or escape of protoplasm from the injured cells may result and be recorded in the electron micrographs. Recording of the action of germicidal agents on individual bacterial cells is indicated as one promising field of application of microchemical analysis with the aid of the electron microscope.


Author(s):  
Sarah C. Swan ◽  
John D.M. Gordon ◽  
Beatriz Morales-Nin ◽  
Tracy Shimmield ◽  
Terrie Sawyer ◽  
...  

Otoliths were obtained from Nezumia aequalis, a small macrourid that is widely distributed throughout the Atlantic and Mediterranean—two very different physical environments. Microchemical analysis of the otoliths was carried out using solution-based inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry of whole otoliths. Significant differences between fish populations were found for concentrations of the elements Li and Sr. Only 54% of the samples were correctly classified by area using discriminant analysis. Otolith samples from the Reykjanes Ridge were most easily distinguished. The results are discussed in relation to trace element concentrations in the waters of the north-eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.


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