scanning electron microscope (redirected from scanning electron microscopes)

scan·ning electron microscope (sknng)

n. Abbr. SEM

An electron microscope that forms a three-dimensional image on a cathode-ray tube by moving a beam of focused electrons across an object and reading both the electrons scattered by the object and the secondary electrons produced by it.

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scanning electron microscope (SEM),

an instrument similar to an electron microscope in that a beam of electrons is used to scan the surface of a specimen. The beam is moved in a point-to-point manner over the surface of the specimen. These electrons are deflected, collected, accelerated, and directed against a scintillator. The large number of photons thus created are converted into an electric signal that, in turn, modulates the beam scanning the surface of the specimen. The image produced appears to be three-dimensional and lifelike. Compare electron microscope, transmission scanning electron microscope.

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scanning electron microscope (SEM),

n See microscope, electron, scanning (SEM).