Scanning Electron Microscope

Notice: Sam the SEM is Offline

We regret to inform you that our beloved scanning electron microscope, Sam the SEM, has been sold and is no longer available for live streaming or real-time control. We deeply appreciate the interest and engagement from our community in exploring the capabilities of this incredible instrument.

While Sam has moved on, this is not the end of our journey. We are passionate about making scientific instruments accessible and interactive, and we hope to acquire new tools in the future to continue this mission. Thank you for your understanding and support.

Micrographs by Our SEM

This subset of Micrographs provides an overview of the types of samples that we have dabbled in. The quality certainly varies by sample, operator's attitude, and the SEM's attitude. Please reach out with any samples or sample ideas!

View Gallery

Progress

Documenting our ownership of Sam the SEM. Although Sam was retired from his academic position when he became ill, we hope to bring him back to good health in his emeritus.

Interactive Interface

This web interface has been created to allow for remote viewing and manipulation of a real electron microscope. This Jeol 6400 was purchased in the 1980s, but fell into the hands of our garage in 2022. It has two displays known as CRT1 and CRT2 that display the direct analog signal and digitized image respectivly. This streaming in from the digitized signal of CRT2. The controls are sent to the RS232 serial port of the microscope allowing the web interface to take control of the operating parameters of the microscope.