Development of New Visualizing Technology of the Liquid Samples Based on Scanning Electron Microscopy

Abstract

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has been widely used to examine various samples at visualizing of nanometer-scale resolution. Until now, the liquid samples have been examined by the various atmospheric holders using SEM. However, visualizing of unstained samples in water exhibits very poor contrast and heavy radiation damage. Recently, we developed new imaging technologies to the liquid specimens based on SEM. Our visualizing method produces high-contrast images of unstained and unfixed specimens in water. Moreover, the liquid specimens are not exposed directly to the electron beam; thus our method prevents electron radiation damage. Our method can be applied to diverse liquid specimens across a broad range of scientific fields, for example, biological samples, nanoparticles and organic materials.