Scanning electron cryomicroscopy (CryoSEM) is a form of
electron microscopy
An electron microscope is a microscope that uses a beam of accelerated electrons as a source of illumination. As the wavelength of an electron can be up to 100,000 times shorter than that of visible light photons, electron microscopes have a ...
where a
hydrated but cryogenically fixed sample is imaged on a
scanning electron microscope's cold stage in a
cryogenic
In physics, cryogenics is the production and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures.
The 13th IIR International Congress of Refrigeration (held in Washington DC in 1971) endorsed a universal definition of “cryogenics” and “cr ...
chamber. The cooling is usually achieved with
liquid nitrogen
Liquid nitrogen—LN2—is nitrogen in a liquid state at low temperature. Liquid nitrogen has a boiling point of about . It is produced industrially by fractional distillation of liquid air. It is a colorless, low viscosity liquid that is wi ...
.
CryoSEM of biological samples with a high moisture content can be done faster with fewer sample preparation steps than conventional SEM. In addition, the dehydration processes needed to prepare a biological sample for a conventional SEM chamber create numerous distortions in the tissue leading to structural artifacts during imaging.
See also
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Electron microscopy
An electron microscope is a microscope that uses a beam of accelerated electrons as a source of illumination. As the wavelength of an electron can be up to 100,000 times shorter than that of visible light photons, electron microscopes have a ...
*
Electron cryomicroscopy
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Transmission electron cryomicroscopy
Transmission electron cryomicroscopy (CryoTEM), commonly known as cryo-EM, is a form of cryogenic electron microscopy, more specifically a type of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) where the sample is studied at cryogenic temperatures (genera ...
References
Electron microscopy
Scientific techniques
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