EMTEC´s  SEM image archive - examples and explanations

On this page you´ll find a small collection of our most beautiful and exciting SEM images. Many of these images result from our work on samples provided by customers for investigation, quality control etc. In case of these images our customers did agree to show them in public. By clicking on the small index images, you can load a better and larger version of the same image. This version in most cases is not yet close to the quality of the original file. The original file in most cases would be
too large (typically between 1 and 5 MB) to be downloaded in a reasonable amount of time.

		If you want to download any image, please look at the note on the copyright at the bottom of this page. You´ll also find some explanations on SEM imaging techniques down there.
		For the future we plan to provide more of our images (about 500 images) in this way either on our server or on a CD-ROM as an image archive and database for possible customers.
		If you have a request for an SEM image of a special specimen of your choice, we will try our best to provide you with it.
		If you need any SEM image for commercial purposes, you´re wellcome to buy from us the right to use certain images. In this case we´ll provide you with the original high resolution file.

...loading index images

calciumsilicatehydrates 31.7 Kb	Grains of Calciumsilicatehydrates, grown in concrete with much water in excess. original file:        CALC01.TIF original resolution: 330x300		microchip 26.7 Kb	Microchip showing its passivated surface. original file:        CHIP02.TIF original resolution: 2500x1980
KCl-crystals 45.0 Kb	Ludicrous grains of potassiumchloride (KCl), grown on a surface of dried blood plasma. original file:        SALZ05.TIF original resolution: 1248x970		crystals of tin 74.9 Kb	Skeleton-like crystals of tin, grown on tin-plate during galvanic experiment with high current density. original file:        ZINNK5.TIF original resolution: 1248x970
knot, human hair 70.5 Kb	Knot, human hair with spreading cuticulae scales. original file:        GW050.TIF original resolution: 1248x970		knot, human hair 85.5 Kb	Same image as on left side, but as stereo pair anaglyphs. You can see this image in real 3-D if you use red/green glasses. original file:        GW50.TIF original resolution: 1248x970
wood (conifers) 44.9 Kb	Sections of wood (conifers). The sample has been a match. original file:        HOLZ01.TIF original resolution: 2500x1980		asbestos fibers 111.0 Kb	Asbestos fibers are known as dangerous for human health. They can easyly be identified using the SEM. original file:        ASBEST06.TIF original resolution: 1248x970
radiolarian 59.4 Kb	Skeleton of a radiolarian, a waterbased single cell organism. original file:        KIESEMT.TIF original resolution: 840x754		fracture in metall 70.9 Kb	Small fracture in plated piece of rare metall alloy. original file:        FEDER36.TIF original resolution: 1248x970
crystals of copper oxide 94.1 Kb	Copper oxide (CuO, tenorit), small idiomorphic crystals on a coating within a water-pipe. original file:        RITZ11.TIF original resolution: 2500x1940		bubbles on rubber 39.9 Kb	Bubbles on surface of gumming of cloth original file:        4A22_04.TIF original resolution: 2500x1940
electronic board 54.9 Kb	Cross section of an electronic multilayer board at am drill-hole. Copper tracks (bright), bundles of glas fibers in epoxy resin. original file:        LEITER04.TIF original resolution: 1248x970		vlies lining with stapling points 83.9 Kb	vlies as lining with a raster oft stapling points for enforcement. original file:        4S50_22.TIF original resolution: 2500x1940
crystals of alum 35.8 Kb	Crystals of alum, gebildet in Ausblühungen von Fugenmörtel. original file:        ALAUN03.TIF original resolution: 2500x1940		fungal desease on surface of leaf 51.9 Kb	Fungi attacking the surface of a leaf. original file:        BLATT05.TIF original resolution: 1248x970
pen 15.2 Kb	pen, made of steel, good quality, perl at the top made of a special hard alloy, slit has been sawed. Backscattered electron image. original file:        FEDER21.TIF original resolution: 2500x1980		membrane in eggshell 66.3 Kb	Membrane at the inner surface of an eggshell. original file:        EI01.TIF original resolution: 1260x970
paper and lasertoner 62.7 Kb	Paper with corner of a printed (by a laser printer) "2". Fibers of the paper and particels of the toner are distinguishable. original file:        PAPIER04.TIF original resolution: 2500x1940		mould fungus sporebody 42.9 Kb	Sporebodies of the mould fungus Rhizopus stolonifer. Separeted spores cover the surface of the sporebody. original file:        PILZ01.TIF original resolution: 2500x1980

Some hints regarding the image generation by an SEM:

		All SEM images on our pages have been digitized directly from the SEM video signal, which is very special and therefore requires a special framegrabber board in the PC. We use and also sell the ORION-System. This piece of hard/software makes use of the full scanning resolution of the SEM (up to 4096x4096 Pixel). The images can be stored in practically any file format you can think of. We usually use the TIFF-format for the original files.
		At EMTEC we can print out the images in very high resolution on simple paper or overhead sheets using advanced laser print technologies.
		At EMTEC we can offer all the classical methodes of micrography as well: Polaroid films 4x5", sheet films 4x5", 35mm films, all as negativ or diapositiv.
		As you can guess from our pages, SEM images are monochrome images. In certain cases more information in the SEM signal(s) could be translated into colors, but as with IR photos, these false color coded images are not easy to interpret.
		We mentioned no magnification with our images, because magnification will allways depend on the final medium you use to look on the image. If you need a value, you can allways calculate it by yourself from the microbar in each image.
		Because of the large depth of focus SEM images usually look very three-dimensional. This impression can even be exaggerated by taking stereo image pairs, which is a special SEM imaging technique.