What is the core principle behind the electron microscope?
The core principle is harnessing the wave nature of electrons to achieve higher resolution than light. Light microscopes are limited by the wavelength of light. Electrons, however, possess much shorter wavelengths, governed by the de Broglie relation. My work demonstrated that these electron waves, much like light waves, could be manipulated and focused using electromagnetic lenses. These lenses, carefully designed and corrected for aberrations, allow us to 'image' the electron beam after it interacts with a specimen. The resulting pattern of transmitted or scattered electrons is then magnified to create an image, revealing details at the nanometer and even atomic scale.
Ask Ernst Ruska the follow-up →