electron microscope

noun

1. a microscope of extremely high power that uses beams of electrons focused by magnetic lenses instead of rays of light, the magnified image being formed on a fluorescent screen or recorded on a photographic plate: its magnification is substantially greater than that of any optical microscope.

electron microscope

noun

1. a powerful type of microscope that uses electrons, rather than light, and electron lenses to produce a magnified image

electron microscope

1. A microscope that produces images of extremely small objects by using beams of electrons rather than visible light. Since electrons have a much shorter wavelength than light, the use of electron beams rather than light beams can resolve much finer structural details in the sample. Electrons are beamed at the sample and focused by magnets; a detector then converts the refracted or reflected beams into a black and white image.
2. See also scanning electron microscope

electron microscope

1. A device that uses electrons instead of light to form images of very small objects, such as individual parts of small living things.

Word History and Origins

Origin of electron microscope¹

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

When viewed under a scanning electron microscope, the powder resembles tiny basketballs with billions of holes, said study leader Zihui Zhou, a materials chemist who is working on his PhD at UC Berkeley.

From Los Angeles Times

Unable to identify them, she tried flooding her cell preparations with a heavy metal stain before looking at them with an electron microscope.

From Science Magazine

With support from their collaborators at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the researchers used a state-of-the-art transmission electron microscope to observe the nanoscale material shapeshift with atomic resolution in real time.

From Science Daily

Examination under an electron microscope at the University of Victoria in British Columbia would reveal the blanket, made sometime in the mid-1800s, was created from mountain goat and fur from the extinct Coast Salish woolly-dog.

From Seattle Times

Rather than using a beam of light to probe a sample, electron microscopes use a beam of electrons, focused by electromagnets.

From Science Daily