Scanning Electron Microscopy 1928-1965
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| Audience/Grade: | College Freshman - Continuing Education |
| Discipline(s): |
History of Science and Technology Materials Engineering |
| Learning Resource Type: | Reference - Article/Document |
| Media Type: | WWW |
| Author(s): |
D. McMullan
Organization: University of Cambridge Department: Cavendish Laboratory |
| Description: | This article gives an account of the origins of the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and traces its development up to 1965 when the first SEM was marketed by the Cambridge Instrument Company. The survey concentrates on the SEM, as distinct from the microanalytical electron probe instruments that were also being developed during this period. Chapters are: Invention of scanning, Scanning optical microscopy, Charged particle beams, Electron beam scanner, Von Ardenne's Scanning Electron Microscope, The RCA Scanning Electron Microscope, The Cambridge Scanning Electron Microscope, Other SEMs up to 1965, and Electron Probe X-Ray Analysers. Figure Captions: TEM image of an early oxide replica of etched aluminum. |
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| Keywords: | SEM, Scanning Electron Microscope |
| Usage Tip | |
| Use of Resource: | This article has described how the development of the scanning electron microscope from concept to the marketing of a commercial instrument in 1965 took 30 years. The foundations were laid in the 1930s by Max Knoll (b. 1897, d. 1969) who first obtained scanned electron images from the surface of a solid, and by Manfred von Ardenne (b. 1906) who established the principles underlying the SEM including the formation of the electron probe and its deflection, the positioning of the detector, and ways of amplifying the very small signal current. The technology necessary for the realisation of his ideas was only just becoming available and because of the very short time he had for the development of an SEM he was unable to put them into practice. Vladimir K. Zworykin (b. 1889, d. 1982) and his team at the RCA Research Laboratories built an SEM which had several important original features but its performance was not adequate to persuade electron microscopists of its usefulness. The idea was revived in 1948 by Charles Oatley (b. 1904) at the Cambridge University Engineering Department and over the next 15 years a succession of his research students built 5 SEMs of increasingly improved performance culminating in the production of a commercial instrument by the Cambridge Instrument Company. The contributions of Knoll, von Ardenne, Zworykin, and Oatley to the genesis of the scanning electron microscope should be recognised by the many thousands of microscopists who today use this instrument in virtually every field of scientific research. |
| Difficulty: | Medium |
| Interactivity Level: | Very Low |
| Version Info | |
| Publication Date: | 2008 |
| Platform/Format: | WWW |
| Cost: | Free |
| Download URL: | http://www-g.eng.cam.ac.uk/125/achievements/mcmullan/mcm.htm |
| Metadata: | IEEE LOM Record |
| Collection: |
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