Microscopy uses radiation and optics to obtain a magnified image of an object. The resolution of the imaging is limited by the minimum focus of the radiation due to diffraction. For light microscopy the diffraction limit is approximately 1 um (10-6 m) and for high-resolution electron microscopy the limit is approximately 1 Å (10-10 m). Several new imaging techniques use very sharp tips or probes to acheive atomic-scale resolution (AFM, STM), or to obtain optical images below the diffraction limit (NFOM). Specific Microscopy Techniques
- atomic-force microscopy (AFM)
- light microscopy
- near-field optical microscopy (NFOM)
- scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
- scanning-tunneling microscopy (STM)
- transmission electron microscopy (TEM)
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