British, French, Japanese and US teams added accelerators to electron microscopes. Now voltages ten times conventional levels permit viewing of thicker, more representative specimens.
A SECOND GENERATION of electron microscopes, using ten times the voltage of conventional instruments, is beginning to fulfill designers’ hopes of allowing study of thicker specimens with less radiation damage. Voltages in the 1‐megavolt range have reduced the effect of chromatic aberration so that, a fixed value of resolution, usable specimen thickness can be increased roughly in the same ratio as voltage until it reaches a limit set by image visibility. Apart from a scaling up of the whole instrument, the only major difference in design is the insertion of an accelerator between the electron gun and the microscope itself. High‐voltage instruments are being used in metal studies by investigators who want a specimen thick enough to display bulk properties and, in biology, to probe living matter. A still larger machine is under construction in France.
7. H. Hashimoto, A. Howie, M. J. Whelan, Phil. Mag. 5, 967 (1960); https://doi.org/PHMAA4 H. Hashimoto, A. Howie, M. J. Whelan, Proc. Roy. Soc. A261, 80 (1962).
16. G. Dupouy, F. Perrier, C. R. Acad. Sci. (Paris) 253, 2435 (1961); https://doi.org/COREAF G. Dupouy, F. Perrier, 258, 4213 (1964).https://doi.org/COREAF, Acad. Sci., Paris, C. R.
17. U. Valdrè, M. J. Goringe, J. W. Steeds, Proc. 4th European Conf. Elect. Mic., Rome (1968); in press.
18. I. B. Puchalska, R. P. Ferrier, Thin Solid Films, 1, 437 (1967–68); https://doi.org/THSFAP Physica Status Solidi (1968).
19. G. Dupouy, F. Perrier, C. R. Acad. Sci. (Paris) 261, 4649 (1965).https://doi.org/COREAF
20. K. Kobayashi, K. Sakaoku, in Quantitative Electron Microscopy, (G. F. Bahr, E. H. Zeitler, eds.) Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore (1965), p 359.
21. K. J. Hale, M. Henderson‐Brown, Proc. 4th European Conf. Elect. Mic., Rome (1968); in press.
22. G. Dupouy, F. Perrier, L. Durrieu, C. R. Acad. Sci. (Paris) 251, 2836 (1960).https://doi.org/COREAF
23. G. Dupouy, in Adv. Optical and Elect. Mic. 2, 167 (1968).
More about the authors
V. Ellis Cosslett,
Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge.
At the end of the turbulent 1960s, the postwar funding boom in US physics came to a crashing halt. The lessons learned then may be helpful to today’s physicists.
Interviews with 22 successful early-career physical scientists and engineers reveal that networking has been one of the most critical ways to nurture their careers.
An interview with a prominent member of the Marshallese diaspora delves into the ongoing impact of aboveground US nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific archipelago.
September 10, 2026 12:45 PM
This Content Appeared In
Volume 21, Number 7
Get PT newsletters in your inbox
PT The Week in Physics
A collection of PT's content from the previous week delivered every Monday.
One email per week
PT New Issue Alert
Be notified about the new issue with links to highlights and the full TOC.
One email per month
PT Webinars & White Papers
The latest webinars, white papers and other informational resources.