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From the Editor The Commercial SEM at 50


In 1965 the fi rst commercial scanning electron microscope (SEM), Stereoscan I, was produced by the Cambridge Instrument Company in the UK. Six months later JEOL launched the JSM-1 in Japan. Today the SEM is a versatile tool that can produce surface images with exceptional depth of fi eld or with nanometer-level resolution; it is responsible in part for advances in microelectronics, life sciences, and many other disciplines. While the concept of the SEM was demonstrated in the 1930s, practical realization had to wait for developments in other technologies: electronic image display systems, effi cient electron detectors, and improved vacuum systems to minimize specimen contamination.


In the early 1950s, Charles Oately and his students at the Engineering Laboratories of the University of Cambridge built a series of SEMs and solved the problems impeding the development of this microscope. Notably they devised the scintillator-photomultiplier electron detector to detect secondary electrons, an essential component of nearly every SEM built since. By 1958 an instrument with magnetic lenses, stigmator, and tilting specimen stage was completed and sold to the Canadian Pulp and Paper Research Institute. Several companies were asked to manufacture the SEM. One of the manufacturers of transmission electron microscopes (TEMs) declined because the image resolution was not as good as the TEM (that company also declined to manufacture digital computers saying the market would be too small). In 1962 Cambridge Instruments decided to produce a commercial SEM based on the work of Oately’s group. Cambridge Instruments called their fi rst SEM the “Stereoscan” because of the ease with which stunning stereo images could be produced. By the 1970s at least half a dozen companies produced SEMs in the US, Europe, and Japan. T e resolution of early instruments was about 20 nm at 20 keV; however, every few years an important innovation would make the SEM more useful. T e fi eld emission electron gun improved image resolution by an order of magnitude, the addition of the energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer allowed detection of specimen elements, variable-pressure instruments allowed imaging of hydrated specimens, and electron backscattered diff raction attachments provided information about crystal orientation and phase identifi cation. Modern instruments now provide sub-nanometer image resolution at 1 keV.


Some estimates indicate that there are over 50,000 SEMs in the world today. T ey are the imaging and analysis workhorses in many fi elds of research. Open the champagne and give a toast to 50 years of commercial SEMs!


Publication Objective: to provide information of interest to microscopists.


Microscopy Today is a controlled-circulation trade magazine owned by the Microscopy Society of America that is published six times a year in the odd months. Editorial coverage spans all microscopy techniques including light microscopy, scanning probe microscopy, electron microscopy, ion-beam techniques, and the wide range of microanalytical methods. Readers and authors come from both the life sciences and the physical sciences. The typical length of an article is about 2,000 words plus fi gures and tables; feature articles are longer. Interested authors should consult “Instructions for Contributors” on the Microscopy Today website: www.microscopy-today.com.


ISSN 1551-9295


Disclaimer The Microscopy Society of America and the editors cannot be held responsible for opinions, errors, or for any consequences arising from the use of information contained in Microscopy Today. The appearance of advertising in Microscopy Today does not constitute an endorsement or approval by the Microscopy Society of America of any claims or information found in the advertisements. By submitting a manuscript to Microscopy Today, the author warrants that the article is original or that the author has written permission to use copyrighted material published elsewhere. While the contents of this magazine are believed to be accurate at press time, neither the Microscopy Society of America, the editors, nor the authors can accept legal responsibility for errors or omissions.


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Editorial Staff


Charles E. Lyman, Editor-in-Chief charles.lyman@lehigh.edu (610) 758-4249


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Ron Anderson, Executive Editor microscopytoday@tampabay.rr.com Phil Oshel, Technical Editor oshel1pe@cmich.edu Stephen Carmichael, Columnist carmichael.stephen@mayo.edu Michael Davidson, Pioneers Editor davidson@magnet.fsu.edu Steven Barlow, Education Editor sbarlow@mail.sdsu.edu Thomas E. Phillips, Consulting Editor phillipst@missouri.edu E. Ann Ellis, Microscopy 101 Editor eann.ellis@suddenlink.net Paul Webster, Calendar Editor pwebster@usc.edu John Shields, Humor Editor jpshield@uga.edu Thomas Kelly, Chief Awards Judge T omas.kelly@ametek.com


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Publisher Cambridge University Press 32 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10013-2473 (212) 337-5000


Circulation: 18,000


Editorial Board Arlan Benscoter, Lehigh University John Bozzola, Southern Illinois University Peter Crozier, Arizona State University Vinayak Dravid, Northwestern University David Grubb, Cornell University Bryan Huey, University of Connecticut John Mackenzie, North Carolina State Univ. Paul Maddox, University of Montreal Ania Majewska, U. Rochester Med School Greg Meeker, U.S. Geological Survey Joseph Michael, Sandia National Labs Caroline Miller, Indiana University Brian M. Patterson, Los Alamos National Lab Robert Price, University of South Carolina John Reffner, John Jay College, SUNY Ian Robertson, University of Wisconsin Phillip Russell, Appalachian State University Glenn Shipley, Citizen Microscopist Robert Simmons, Georgia State University Paul Voyles, University of Wisconsin Simon Watkins, University of Pittsburgh Cynthia Zeissler, Nat. Inst. of Sci. and Tech. (NIST)


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