Lawrence Berkeley Microscope
Summary
Since October 2008 in the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, researchers have been able to count individual atoms, using the world’s most powerful microscope. This Department of Energy electron microscope, which cost $27 million, can view objects twice as small as the last generation of the world’s most powerful microscopes. The microscope has its own room, and its power cable is as thick as a fire hose. 300,000 volts go up into the gun and the electrons are accelerated up to nearly the speed of light. At that speed, the electrons behave like waves, with very short wave lengths. An electron microscope can make images of much smaller things than light microscopes, because electrons have much shorter wave lengths than light.
Keywords: Key words: Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, electron microscope, hydrogen atoms, The Golub Collection, Steven Ruzin, National Center for Electron Microscopy
