Microscopes, 20th Century Scanning electron probe microanalyser, 1960

Microscopes, 20th Century Scanning electron probe microanalyser, 1960. Peter Duncomb and David Melford built this microanalyser at the Tube Investments Research Laboratories near Cambridge, and formed the prototype of the 'Microscan' X-ray microanalysers produced by the Cambridge Instrument Company. It detects the X-rays emitted from the specimen when an electron beam hits it. The X-ray detector is tuned to the characteristic X-rays from a selected element, and the instrument produces an image showing the location of particles of that element in the specimen. ©SSPL/Science Museum