Image Processing and Acquisition using Python

Chapter 13

Electron Microscopes

13.1 Introduction

The resolution of a light microscope discussed previously is directly proportional to the wavelength. To improve the resolution, light with a shorter wavelength should be used. Scientists began experimenting with ultraviolet light, which has a shorter wavelength than visible light. Due to the difficulty in generation and maintaining coherence, it was not commercially successful.

Meanwhile, the French physicist Louis de Broglie proved that similar to visible light, a traveling electron has both wave and particle duality. He was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1929 for his work.

An electron wave with higher energy will have lower wavelength and vice versa. Thus, improving the resolution would involve increasing ...