B.C. researchers make giant leap in small world of microscopic imaging

It's an achievement that might go unnoticed by the naked eye, but it's one that's sure to catch the attention of scientists the world over.

A team of researchers at the University of Victoria has achieved a major breakthrough in electron microscopy that will allow scientists to visualize atomic-scale structures using lower-cost and lower-energy microscopes.

Led by Arthur Blackburn, co-director of UVic’s Advanced Microscopy Facility, the team developed a novel imaging technique that allowed them to achieve sub-Ångström resolution (less than one ten-billionth of a metre) using a compact, low-energy scanning electron microscope (SEM) – a feat previously possible only with a large, high-cost transmission electron microscope (TEM).

“This work shows that high-resolution imaging doesn’t have t