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Find out more about the Electron Microscopy Unit.
History of the Electron Microscopy Unit
The unit was set up in 1977 by David McCarthy with the purchase of a Transmission Electron Microscope (Philips 201) and the necessary ancillary equipment. The Electron Microscopy Unit was later managed by Kate Keen, and currently by Andrew Weston.
Image: Silver nanoparticles under a microscope.
The unit’s services have become essential to many of the School’s research programmes. In 1984, a Scanning Electron Microscope was purchased (Jeol JSM35).
This Microscope was replaced in 1991 with a state of the art Philips XL 20, augmented with Cryo facilities and in 2003, this microscope was replaced with a higher spec XL 30 Microscope. In 2009, CIF funding (50%) and FEI sponsorship (50%) allowed the purchase of a FEI Quanta 200 FEG ESEM. This Microscope has three modes of operation: High vacuum, high resolution, Low vacuum, high resolution (uncoated sample imaging) and Environmental, for imaging of partially dried samples.
A second Transmission Electron Microscope (Philips CM 120 Bio-Twin) was purchased in 1998 with funding from the EPSRC.
In 2018 capital investment funding allowed for the purchase of a Phenom Pro benchtop SEM. The unit also has a Nikon FXA optical microscope, a multi-user facility which is equipped with fluorescence facilities and digital image capture system.