The Intergrated Microscopy and Graphic Expertise Center held an open house on the SIU Carbondale Campus Friday.
Almost everyone’s used a microscope before, but not one like this.
It’s a scanning electron microscope that comes with a one million times magnification that would cost around half million dollars.
SIU’s Image Center held an open house Friday and gave demonstrations showing a range of images from the hair on a fly’s antenna, DVD’s, water drops, and many others.
Professor Punit Kohli says they receive samples from all over the world for analysis.
They’re used frequently when manufactures discover quality control issues.
“The send us a sample and we actually look at them and see, what could be the cause, potentially cause defects.”
Their equipment can also detect the different elements and chemical structure of the samples.
It can handle sensitive materials because they can control the temperature, pressure and moisture inside the microscope.
“We can actually tell them it does contain this, this, this, and this is the chemical ratio of this metal so it provides very rich information.”
That information can also be used in research to help determine the age of artifacts, books, and other items.
The IMAGE Center can be utilized by students, faculty, staff, and anoyone that needs analysis.
