How can you study something if you can't see it? Now imagine if looking at something damaged it.....How would you study it when merely looking at it changed it?
It's not far from the truth! Think about the fabric in your house, curtains or a sofa or your favourite t-shirt. Is it the same colour as when you bought it?
The fading and discolouration of fabric is an effect of light breaking down the chemicals in the dye, so it's not hard to believe light is damaging your sample. If you use higher energy particles like electrons the damage can be even more. We have made a microscope that doesn't damage a sample while imaging it!
Our microscope uses a beam of helium atoms to measure surfaces. we make the beam, focus it onto a sample, then measure the scattered intensity. By rastering the sample in the beam, we can generate an intensity map which has contrast originating from various properties of the surface, especially its topography, but we can also learn about its chemical composition and other surface properties.
Dr David Ward is a senior research associate at the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge. David gained an MA in Physics at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. He went on to study for a PhD at Cambridge before becoming a Postdoctoral Research Associate in 2013. He took up his present position in 2021.
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Lord Ashcroft Building
Bishop Hall Lane
Chelmsford
Essex
CM1 1SQ
United Kingdom