Preparation of damage-free glass TEM specimens
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Updated: Oct 16, 2026
05:41
Puncture Wound Hemostasis and Preparation of Samples for Montaged Wide-Area Electron Microscopy Analysis
Published on: May 24, 2024
1Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, IL 60439, USA.
Ultramicroscopy
|May 11, 2000
Abstract:
A jet polishing technique to chemically thin glass specimens for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) after a preliminary mechanical dimpling step has been developed. Slightly modified commercial equipment is used with automatic optical termination of the polishing process to produce foils exhibiting large, high quality, electron transparent regions.
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01:20Preparation of Samples for Electron Microscopy
To be visualized by an electron microscope, either transmission or scanning, biological samples need to be fixed (stabilized) so the electron beam does not destroy them and dried thoroughly (desiccated/dehydrated) so the vacuum does not affect them. Fixation needs to be done as quickly as possible because the sample properties will start changing as soon as it is removed from its natural environment. For example, in a tissue sample, the oxygen levels begin decreasing, causing an altered...
01:03Fixation and Sectioning
Two basic types of preparation are used to visualize specimens with a light microscope: wet mounts and fixed specimens.
The simplest type of preparation is the wet mount, in which the specimen is placed in a drop of liquid on the slide. A liquid specimen can be directly deposited on the slide using a dropper. Solid specimens, such as skin scraping, can be placed on the slide before adding a drop of liquid to prepare the wet mount. Sometimes the liquid is simply water, but stains are often added...
The simplest type of preparation is the wet mount, in which the specimen is placed in a drop of liquid on the slide. A liquid specimen can be directly deposited on the slide using a dropper. Solid specimens, such as skin scraping, can be placed on the slide before adding a drop of liquid to prepare the wet mount. Sometimes the liquid is simply water, but stains are often added...