Photos of people, buildings, and equipment in MSE

Seeing Atoms

TEM in action

Gerd Duscher describes images from the TEM. Click on the image to see a larger version (you can see individual atoms).

Illustrations of a computer chip

Four illustrations of a computer chip, one at 100 times normal size (100X), one at 400X, one at 5,000X and one at 40,000X.

Visitors to the “Seeing Atoms” demonstration look at the atomic structure of an electronic device of a next generation computer chip with a transition electron microscope (TEM). The TEM is used to form an image with atomic resolution. Light-based microscopes will never be able to see atoms because light beams do not reflect off of atoms. A TEM sends a focused electron beam through the specimen. Some of the electrons travel through the specimen, while others are scattered and do not reach the other side. The electrons hit a flourescent screen and where they create an image.

The TEM can be used to characterize materials, which allows engineers to create and manipulate structures at the atomic level. Visitors to the demonstration watch as we find a tiny flaw in a SiGe (Silicon-Geranium) structure. The structure is used to force electrons to travel faster in a computer chip.

For more information about TEMs and a TEM simulator, check out Nobel Prize.org's Transmission Electron Microscope page.