Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 9, 2026

Preparation and Observation of Thick Biological Samples by Scanning Transmission Electron Tomography
Published on: March 12, 2017
Maximum diameter of the rod-shaped specimen for transmission electron microtomography without the "missing wedge"
Mitsuro Kato1, Noboru Kawase, Takeshi Kaneko
1Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Matsugasaki, Kyoto 606-8585, Japan.
Abstract:
In our recent study, the complete rotation of a rod-shaped specimen during transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has been successfully carried out, yielding a truly quantitative three-dimensional (3D) structure of a ZrO(2)/polymer nano-composite. This result allows the further development of transmission electron microtomography (TEMT) for materials science. The diameter of the rod-shaped specimen was about 150 nm, which may not be statistically large enough to evaluate structural parameters, e.g., volume fraction of Zr nano-particles. Thus, it is preferable to image rods with larger diameters in 3D. In this study, several rod-shaped specimens whose diameters ranged from 150 to 530 nm were subjected to the "distortion-free TEMT". The maximum diameters, l, observable under 200 and 300 kV-TEMTs were, respectively, 460-470 and 600-670 nm (corresponding the maximum relative diameters, l/lambda (lambda: mean free path), were ca. 2.2 and 2.7-3.0).
Related Concept Videos
Transmission Electron Microscopy
Electron Microscope Tomography and Single-particle Reconstruction
Electron Tomography
Electron tomography can be performed either in TEM or STEM (scanning transmission...
Overview of Electron Microscopy
Scanning Electron Microscopy
Fundamental Principles
Accelerated...
Preparation of Samples for Electron Microscopy
