Electron Microscopy Facility

The Electron Microscopy Facility at Trinity offers undergraduates a rare opportunity for exposure to nanotechnology.

Electron microscopes (or EMs) are powerful instruments used in medicine, industry, and academic settings around the world to study the fine structure and properties of living and non-living materials. In 1996, Trinity College was awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation to build an interdisciplinary Electron Microscopy Facility for use by all the sciences. The resolving power of Trinity’s EMs may be measured in fractions of a nanometer (10-9 meter), enabling magnifications of millions of times. This capability makes it possible to image and study specimens at the nanolevel… all of which means that an EM can really zoom in!

The Electron Microscopy Facility is available for use by all students and faculty, and features two transmission electron microscopes, or TEMs—one dedicated to Life Sciences and one to Materials Sciences—plus a scanning electron microscope, or SEM, and a range of advanced tools for specimen preparation, data analysis, and digital output. All are accessible to students for explorations into the realm of the nano-world.