Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)
SEMs are patterned after reflecting light microscopes and yield similar information:
- Topography: The surface features of an object, or "how it looks," its texture, etc. Detectable features are limited to a few nanometers
- Morphology: The shape, size, and arrangeement of the particles making up the object that are lying on the surface of the sample or have been exposed by grinding or chemical etching. Detectable feaures are limited to a few nanometers
- Composition: The elements are compounds the sample is composed of, and their relative ratios in areas ~1 micrometer in diameter
- Crystallographic Information: The arrangement of atoms in the speciment and their degree of order. This is only useful on single-crystal particles >20 micrometers
Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM)
TEMS are patterned after transmission light microscopes and will yield similar information:
- Morphology: The size, shape, and arrangement of the particles which make up the specimen, as well as their relationship to each other on the scale of atomic diameters
- Crystallographic Information: The arrangement of atoms in the specimen and their degree of order, detection of atomic-scale defects in areas a few nanometers in diameter
- Compositional Information (if so equipped): The elements and comounds the sample is composed of and their relative ratios, in areas a few nanometers in diameter