Electron Microscope Facility
The UW-Stevens Point Department of Biology has state-of-the-art scanning and transmission electron microscopes used by faculty and students for teaching and research. The Electron Microscope Facility on the Chemistry Biology Building third floor features two different types of microscope.
An Hitachi H-7500 transmission electron microscope (TEM) is used for looking at either sections of tissue or specially-prepared viruses or macromolecules mounted on 3mm grids. It has a magnification range of 700x to 600,000x, about 400 times better than the best light microscope.
The second type of EM is an Hitachi S-3400 scanning electron microscope (SEM), for looking at whole, unsectioned samples such as insects or plants, up to the size of a softball. It has a useable magnification range of 10x to 50,000x. The SEM is also equipped with an X-ray detector that can determine which elements are found in alloy samples put into the microscope.
“We teach with advanced imaging technology. The scanning electron microscope changes your viewpoint. It can magnify tens of thousands of times and gives students motivation to explore more. You can see the unseen!”
Professor Qiang Sun
— Electron Microscope Lab director
School of Biology, Chemistry, and Biochemistry