Constructing Electron Microscope Labs: Challenges and Solutions

The construction of advanced laboratories for precision instruments, such as electron microscopes, involves unique challenges that are influenced by the specific environmental conditions required for optimal functionality. These include mitigating interference from magnetic fields and vibrations, which are critical for maintaining the precision and accuracy of the instruments used. This study aims to offer enhanced project management strategies and detailed construction solutions that address the environmental and technical needs specific to electron microscopy labs, thereby facilitating effective lab operations and extending the lifecycle of high-end precision instruments. Case studies of existing laboratory constructions, onsite investigations, and comprehensive reviews of the technical and environmental requirements provide the basis for a best practice for constructing sophisticated electron microscopy labs. The approach integrates both pre-construction planning and post-construction adjustments to create optimal operational environments. The findings suggest that successful lab constructions are those that incorporate thorough onsite assessments, strategic location choices, and the use of advanced construction materials and techniques specifically designed to counteract environmental challenges like magnetic and vibration interferences. Actionable guidelines for both planning and executing the construction of electron microscope labs highlighted in this tutorial are intended as an important resource to troubleshoot or upgrade existing lab facilities and to consult in preparation of future lab construction projects.

Observation for Leaf Epidermal Characteristics of Four Different Pomegranate Cultivars under Scanning Electron Microscope

[Objective] The research aimed to provide reference for classification of pomegranate cultivars and studies of genetic relationship among pomegranate cultivars.[Method] The electron microscope scanning was used to comparatively observe leaf epidermal structures of 4 pomegranate cultivars.[Result] The upper epidermal structures of 4 pomegranate cultivars were similar and showed reticular structure .However, the differences existed in lower epidermis,such as cell shape,cell size and arrangement mode of cell as well as stomatal density,while the structures of leaf vein in lower epidermis of 4 pomegranate cultivars were similar.[Conclusion] The research provided morphological references for studying heterosis of pomegranate to some extent.

Changes of Calmodulin Distribution in the Embryo Sac of Oryza sativa Before and After Fertilization: an Immunogold Electron Microscope Study

Changes of calmodulin (CaM) distribution in the embryo sac of rice (Oryza sativa subsp. Japonica) at various stages before and after fertilization have been investigated by using immunogold electron microscopy. Before pollination, both cytoplasm and vacuoles of the egg cell, synergids and central cell were labeled by gold particles. A small amount of gold particles were localized in the nucleus, endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria and dictyosomes. From pollination to fertilization, CaM amount increased in these cells, especially rich in the starch of amyloplasts. Increase of gold particles in the central cell began about 2 h earlier than that in the egg cell. There was no distinct difference of CaM amount between the degenerated and the persistent synergids. It is interesting to observe an obvious change of CaM distribution form during pollination and fertilization from scattered single particles to clustered particles, and back again to single particles after the fertilization finished. CaM was also localized extracellularly in the embryo sac wall as well as in the wall and intercellular space of nucellus cells. The extracellular CaM also changes in its amount and form after pollination. These results suggest that CaM, either intra- or extra-cellular, may play important roles in fertilization and zygote formation.

Obsevation for Epidermal Ultrastructure of Nostoc sphaeroides Kutzing under Scanning Electron Microscope

[Objective]The experiment aimed to explore a new way for observing surface structure of Nostoc sphaeroides Kutzing. [Method] The scanning electron microscope was used to observe the epidermal ultrastructure of wild and cultured Nostoc sphaeroides Kutzing. [ Result] The epidermis of wild and cultured Nostoc sphaeroides Kutzing showed mixture structure of fibril colloid which was reticular arranged. The difference between wild and cultured Nostoc sphaeroides Kutzing was that the outer epidermis of cultured Nostoc sphaeroides Kutzing had trichome distribution but the wild Nostoc sphaeroides Kutzing did not has such distribution. The obsevation results of under smaller than 10 μm by scanning electron microscope was touched thick and showed many folds and distortions. [ Conclusion] The scanning electron microscope was an effective way to study development of Nostoc sphaeroides Kutzing colony and it was worth popularizing.

Observation of Helicotylenchus digonicus by Scanning Electron Microscope

[ Objective] The paper was to observe Helicotylenchus digonicus by scanning electron microscope （SEM）. [ Method ] H. digonicus collected from Changxing of Zhejiang Province was observed under scanning electron microscope, and its morphological structure was confmned under optical microscope. [ Resuit]The nematode specimens fixed by glutaraldehyde and osmium tetroxide and prepared by critical point drying were unmodified and unshrinkable with clear mor- phological structure, which could be scanned very well by scanning electron microscope. [ Conclusion ] The study provided reference for study and control of H. digonicus.

Chalkiness Characters and Scanning Electron Microscope Observation of Rice Grain Endosperm of Japonica Varieties in Southern Henan

Chalkiness characters affect not only the grain appearance,milling,eating and cooking qualities but also the grain nutritional quality in rice,thus it is one of the most important traits in rice. It is very important for us to investigate the relation of the chalkiness formation and the development of endosperm structure and starch granule of different rice varieties. Here,we have investigated the chalkiness characters such as chalkiness rate,chalkiness degree and chalkiness area in 15 japonica rice varieties from southern Henan. Furthermore,the endosperm structure and starch granules of rice grain were also observed with scanning electron microscope. The results showed that the 15 japonica varieties have a significantly linear relationship between the chalkiness rate and chalkiness degree. Among the varieties,the biggest difference is the chalkiness rate,the second is the chalkiness area,and the last is the chalkiness degree. Moreover,there is a certain correlation between the distribution of starch granules,the arrangement of endosperm cells and the occurrence of grain chalkiness in the different rice varieties. For the same variety,the starch granules of chalky and non-chalky grains have obvious difference,while the starch granules from the transparent part of chalky rice and non-chalky rice do not have significant difference. The results would provide useful references for the improvement of grain quality in rice.

Areal density and spatial resolution of high energy electron radiography

Ultrafast imaging tools are of great importance for determining the dynamic density distribution in high energy density(HED)matter.In this work,we designed a high energy electron radiography(HEER)system based on a linear electron accelerator to evaluate its capability for imaging HED matter.40 MeV electron beams were used to image an aluminum target to study the density resolution and spatial resolution of HEER.The results demonstrate a spatial resolution of tens of micrometers.The interaction of the beams with the target and the beam transport of the transmitted electrons are further simulated with EGS5 and PARMELA codes,with the results showing good agreement with the experimental resolution.Furthermore,the experiment can be improved by adding an aperture at the Fourier plane.

Fabrication of polyetheretherketone(PEEK)-based 3D electronics with fine resolution by a hydrophobic treatment assisted hybrid additive manufacturing method

Additive manufacturing(AM)is a free-form technology that shows great potential in the integrated creation of three-dimensional(3D)electronics.However,the fabrication of 3D conformal circuits that fulfill the requirements of high service temperature,high conductivity and high resolution remains a challenge.In this paper,a hybrid AM method combining the fused deposition modeling(FDM)and hydrophobic treatment assisted laser activation metallization(LAM)was proposed for manufacturing the polyetheretherketone(PEEK)-based 3D electronics,by which the conformal copper patterns were deposited on the 3D-printed PEEK parts,and the adhesion between them reached the 5B high level.Moreover,the 3D components could support the thermal cycling test from-55℃ to 125℃ for more than 100 cycles.Particularly,the application of a hydrophobic coating on the FDM-printed PEEK before LAM can promote an ideal catalytic selectivity on its surface,not affected by the inevitable printing borders and pores in the FDM-printed parts,then making the resolution of the electroless plated copper lines improved significantly.In consequence,Cu lines with width and spacing of only60μm and 100μm were obtained on both as-printed and after-polished PEEK substrates.Finally,the potential of this technique to fabricate 3D conformal electronics was demonstrated.

High-resolution electron microscopy for heterogeneous catalysis research

Heterogeneous catalysts are the most important catalysts in industrial reactions. Nanocatalysts, with size ranging from hundreds of nanometers to the atomic scale, possess activities that are closely connected to their structural characteristics such as particle size, surface morphology, and three-dimensional topography. Recently, the development of advanced analytical transmission electron microscopy（TEM） techniques, especially quantitative high-angle annular darkfield（HAADF） imaging and high-energy resolution spectroscopy analysis in scanning transmission electron microscopy（STEM） at the atomic scale, strengthens the power of（S）TEM in analyzing the structural/chemical information of heterogeneous catalysts. Three-dimensional reconstruction from two-dimensional projected images and the real-time recording of structural evolution during catalytic reactions using in-situ（S）TEM methods further broaden the scope of（S）TEM observation. The atomic-scale structural information obtained from high-resolution（S）TEM has proven to be of significance for better understanding and designing of new catalysts with enhanced performance.

OBSERVATION OF THE EFFECT OF S－（－）USNIC ACID SODIUM ON TRICHOMONAS VAGINALIS BY TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPE

This paper reports the ultrastructural changes of trichomonas vaginaiis (T. vag. ) under the action of s-(-)usnic acid sodium in vitro. These changes can be shown by the following results:At first, the degranulation of the rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) took place, the polyribosomes disaggregated. And then, the Golgi complex and the endoplasmic reticulum dilated. The cytoplasmic matrix presented and inhomogeneous apperance. Finally, the biomembrane loosed and fractured.The cell nuclei presented the karyorrhexis.

Retrieving analog images from a scanning electron microscopewith a synchronous data acquisition method

In this work,an old scanning electron microscope(SEM)is refurbished to enhance its image processing capability.How to digitally sample and process an analog image is also presented.An NI PCI-6259 multiple input/output data acquisition(DAQ)board is used to acquire signals originally being sent to an analog display,and then convert the signals into a digital image.Two output channels are used for raster scan of the horizontal and verticle axes of the image buffer,while one input channel is used to read the brightness signals at various coordinate points.Synchronous method is used to maximize the DAQ speed.Finally,the digitally buffered images are read out to display and saved in a hard drive.The hardware and software designs of this work are explained in great detail,which can serve as a very good example for fast synchronous DAQ,advanced virtual instrument design and structural driver programming with LabVIEW.

Lattice Distortion Analysis Directly from High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy Images —the LADIA Program Package

Direct strain mapping from high resolution transmission electron microscopy images is possible for coherent structures. At proper imaging conditions the intensity peaks in the image have a constant spatial relationship with the projected atom columns. This allows the determination of the geometry of the projected unit cell without comparison with image simulations. The fast procedure is particularly suited for the analysis of large areas. The software package LADIA is written in the PV-WAVE code and provides all necessary tools for image processing and analysis. Image intensity peaks are determined by a cross-correlation technique, which avoids problems from noise in the low spatial frequency range. The lower limit of strain that can be detected at a sampling rate of 44 pixels/nm is≈2%.

ELECTRON MICROSCOPE EVIDENCE OF VIRUS INFECTION IN CULTURED MARINE FISH

Electron microscope investigation on the red sea bream ( Pagrosomus major ), bastard halibut ( Paralichthys olivaceus ) and stone flounder ( Kareius bicoloratus ) in North China revealed virus infection in the bodies of the dead and diseased fish. These viruses included the lymphocystis disease virus (LDV), parvovirus, globular virus, and a kind of baculavirus which was not discovered and reported before and is now tentatively named baculavirus of stone flounder ( Kareius bicoloratus ).

High-resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy Characterization of the Structure of Cu Precipitate in a Thermal-aged Multicomponent Steel

High-dispersed nanoscale Cu precipitates often contribute to extremely high strength due to precipitation hardening,and whereas usually lead to degraded toughness for especially ferritic steels.Hence,it is important to understand the formation behaviors of the Cu precipitates.High-resolution transmission electron microscopy(TEM)is utilized to investigate the structure of Cu precipitates thermally formed in a high-strength low-alloy(HSLA)steel.The Cu precipitates were generally formed from solid solution and at the crystallographic defects such as martensite lath boundaries and dislocations.The Cu precipitates in the same aging condition have various structure of BCC,9 R and FCC,and the structural evolution does not greatly correlate with the actual sizes.The presence of different structures in an individual Cu precipitate is observed,which reflects the structural transformation occurring locally to relax the strain energy.The multiply additions in the steel possibly make the Cu precipitation more complex compared to the binary or the ternary Fe-Cu alloys with Ni or Mn additions.This research gives constructive suggestions on alloying design of Cu-bearing alloy steels.

Characterization of Li-rich layered oxides by using transmission electron microscope

Lithium-rich layered oxides(LrLOs) deliver extremely high specific capacities and are considered to be promising candidates for electric vehicle and smart grid applications. However, the application of LrLOs needs further understanding of the structural complexity and dynamic evolution of monoclinic and rhombohedral phases, in order to overcome the issues including voltage decay, poor rate capability, initial irreversible capacity loss and etc. The development of aberration correction for the transmission electron microscope and concurrent progress in electron spectroscopy, have fueled rapid progress in the understanding of the mechanism of such issues. New techniques based on the transmission electron microscope are first surveyed, and the applications of these techniques for the study of the structure, migration of transition metal, and the activation of oxygen of LrLOs are then explored in detail, with a particular focus on the mechanism of voltage decay.

Gill surface architecture of mullet, Mugil soiuy (Basilewsky) : A scanning electron microscope study

Specimens of Mugil soiuy were collected from the coastal waters of Bohai Sea in Tianjin. The gillfilaments were cut with fine scissors and soaked for 24h in a fixative consisting of 2.5% glutaralde-hyde in 0.1 mol lphosporic acid buffer. After three washes in a buffer solution the tissue was fixedin a mixture of 1% osmium tetraoxide at 4℃ for 1h. The tissue was dehydrated in graded ethandethanols and dried. The tissue was examined and photographed with an SEM at an accelerating voltage

High Resolution Electron Microscopy Observations of Structural Changes in Iron Nitride Films Annealed in Vacuum

Iron-nitride films were prepared by reactive sputtering, and the effect of annealing treatment on the structures was investigated by means of in-situ electron microscopy and high resolution electron microscopy (HREM). As-deposited films were observed to be a mixed structure of a few ultrafine epsilon-Fe2-3N particles existing in the amorphous matrix. it was found that the structure-relaxation in the amorphous occurred at 473 K, and the ultrafine grains began to grow at the higher annealing temperatures. The transition of the amorphous to epsilon-Fe2-3N was almost completed at 673 K. It is considered that the formation of the ideal epsilon-Fe3N is originated from the ordering of the nitrogen atoms during the annealing in vacuum. On the other hand, gamma'-phase (Fe4N) was seen to precipitation of epsilon-phase at 723 K. Two possible modes are proposed in the precipitation of gamma'-phase, depending on the heating rate and crystallographic orientation relationships, i.e. [121](epsilon)//[001](gamma), (2(1) over bar0$)(epsilon)//(110)(gamma) and [100](epsilon)//[110](gamma), (001)(epsilon)//(111)(gamma). In addition, alpha-Fe particles were observed to form from the gamma'-phase at high temperatures. We assumed that these structural changes are due to the diffusion of nitrogen and iron atoms during the annealing, except for the case of the precipitation of the gamma'-phase as depicted above. The results obtained in this work are in a good agreement with the assumption.

Observation of healing between artificial bladder and tissue by scanning electronic microscope

Object To detect the healing between artificial bladder and tissue. Method:Healing between 4 artificial bladder and surrounding tissue was observed by scanning electronic microscope. Result 4 prosthesis all could heal with tissue,but healing extent was different during different time. Conclusion:This artificial bladder could perform a good connection with tissue and the structure of nylon, surface area of prosthesis, time and infection maybe influenced the healing.

High-resolution transmission electron microscopy and bulk magnetometry study of LaFe_(11.5)Si_(1.5) compound

This paper studies the microstructural and magnetic properties of LaFe11.5Si1.5 compound by means of highresolution transmission electron microscope and bulk magnetometry measurements. The crystalline structure is accompanied with the noncrystalline and nanocrystalline structures. This characteristic is the reflection of the crystalline process held by quenching. The inverse susceptibilities diverge and deviate from Curie-Weiss law under low applied magnetic fields. This paper proposes the possible mechanism between the anomalous susceptibilities and microstructure, and offers a perspective on the magnetic properties of metastable intermetallic compounds.

ELECTRON MICROSCOPE ANALYSIS OF MITOCHONDRIA ON RENAL TUBULE CELL SUFFERED WARM ISCHEMIC AND REPER FUSIVE DAMAGE IN RABBITS

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