One of the most popular instruments in the materials research arena is the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Rather than using light to form an image, the SEM uses electrons. The SEM’s large depth of field allows the user to view a great deal of even quite rough surfaces while the high resolution images provide excellent views of closely spaced features.
UCSD’s scanning microscope is an FEI XL ESEM-FEG, the state of the art scanning electron microscope. The field emission gun (FEG) provides extremely high-resolution images. The environmental feature (the E is for ESEM) allows the viewing and x-ray analysis of insulation materials without the necessity of adding a conductive coating. The ESEM can also image biological materials with dehydration and embedding.