Science 101: Microscopy

Microscopy opens up a hidden world, allowing us to explore the tiniest details of life and materials, from the vibrant structures of cells to the intricate arrangements of atoms. By peering into this microscopic realm, scientists unlock secrets that drive innovations in science and technology.

What Is Microscopy?

Microscopy employs more than just the simple microscopes you might use in school to look at bugs or leaves. It has grown into a highly advanced area of science. While basic microscopy started with light and lenses to make tiny things look bigger, modern microscopes use light, electrons or X-rays to do much more and make important discoveries.

Microscopes today play a huge role in discovering new medicines and creating materials for new technologies.

Different Kinds of Microscopes

Light microscopes use visible light and glass lenses to magnify specimens, making them ideal for viewing cells and tissues, given the wavelength of visible light. In contrast, electron microscopes employ electron beams, which, due to the charged nature of electrons, utilize specialized electric fields as lenses to focus the beam. Since the wavelength of electrons is much smaller than the wavelength of visible light, much smaller features, down to single atoms, can be resolved with these microscopes.

At the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, scientists use several types of microscopes to study things as small as atoms. One of the most important types is the electron microscope, which uses particles called electrons to look at tiny details that light microscopes can’t see. These microscopes let scientists see objects that are a billion times smaller than a meter — about 100,000 times thinner than a human hair!

There are two main ways electron microscopes work:

Some bounce electrons off an object to analyze the surface.
Others shoot electrons through thin slices of material to see more deeply into the material.

These microscopes can magnify objects millions of times, helping scientists study things like the structure of viruses, such as SARS-CoV-2 (the one that causes COVID-19), or the atoms that compose batteries.

Argonne scientists also work with laser confocal microscopes, which employ lasers to light up and scan the objects they study. Unlike regular light microscopes, these block out background light, producing clearer, sharper images. Scientists often pair them with glowing markers to study living things, like the tiny organisms that might affect the health of plants around their roots.

Modern microscopes provide a closer look at the intricate landscape of microchips, revealing the fine details of their structure and composition. This precision helps engineers refine transistor design, optimize manufacturing processes and discover new materials for cutting-edge technologies.

Special Microscopes at Argonne

One of the advanced tools used at Argonne is the Ultrafast Electron Microscope, which was built and is operated by Argonne’s Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM). It combines an electron microscope with an ultrafast laser to capture events in materials that occur in billionths to trillionths of a second. For example, it can “freeze-frame” changes that occur during chemical reactions. Even though these changes are much too fast for us to notice in real time with our eyes, they are important because they affect how materials work.

Another important tool is the X-ray microscope, which uses X-rays to look deeper into materials. One such tool at Argonne is the Hard X-ray Nanoprobe, which makes use of the powerful beam of high-energy X-rays (“hard” X-rays) provided by the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne to study how atoms are arranged inside materials. This helps scientists improve technologies like LED lights and microelectronic devices, such as the small chips inside your phone and computer. Both the APS and CNM are DOE Office of Science user facilities.

Why Is Microscopy Important?

Microscopy allows scientists to see incredibly small things — down to the level of individual atoms. By understanding how materials work at such a tiny scale, we can make better technologies and solve real-world problems. At Argonne, scientists aren’t just trying to see small things; they’re using microscopes to uncover the big secrets of the atomic world and find ways to improve the world around us.

(Video by Argonne National Laboratory.)