Optical Microscopy:: Sectioning Is To Select A Sample That Is Representative of The Material To Be

Optical Microscopy:
The optical microscope also known as light microscope. It is a type of microscopy

that is used to magnify images of small subjects by using visible light and a system
of lenses. It is used for analyzing surface and structure of any material. It is also
known as metallography because it is mostly used for analyzing the surfaces and
structure of metals, ceramics and alloys. It is only suitable for materials which are
opaque to light and analysis of surface or structure is done by the reflecting
property of materials.
USE
The material to be examined is first prepared. Several steps are followed to prepare
the surface these include:
Sectioning is to select a sample that is representative of the material to be
evaluated. This step is critical to the success of any study. The region of the sample
that is of interest is sectioned from the component. Sectioning of a metallographic
sample is performed carefully to avoid altering or destroying the structure of
interest. The most widely used sectioning device is the abrasive cutoff machine.
Mounting is the handling of the specimen. The purpose of mounting is to protect
fragile or coated materials during preparation and to obtain perfect edge retention.
Mounting is used when the protection of layers is imperative, and it enables a safer
and more convenient handling of small, sharp, or irregularly shaped specimens. It
is done by placing the specimen in the mold, surrounded by appropriate powder
and then heating it which creates a layer over the specimen.
Grinding is considered the most important step in specimen preparation. It is
usually performed by the scarping of the surface of specimen water lubricated
abrasive wheels. Grinding develops flatter surface with minimum depth. The
scratches created are removed by using Grinding girts.
Polishing if there are any surface damage after Grinding it is removed by Polishing,
which involves rough and fine polishing. In this process all kind of scratches and
defects are removed.
Etching includes process used to reveal the microstructure of a metal or alloy.
Because many microstructural details are not revealed as a polished specimen, the
specimen surface must be treated to reveal such structural features as grains, grain
boundaries, slip lines, and phase boundaries. Etchants attack at different rates
areas of different crystal orientation. The resulting surface irregularities
differentially reflect the incident light, producing contrast, polarization, etc. Various
etching techniques are available, including chemical attack, electrochemical attack,
thermal treatments and mechanical treatments.
Etching creates small grooves along Grain boundaries. Because atoms along grain
boundary regions are more chemically active, they dissolve at a greater rate than
those within the grains. These grooves become observable when viewed under a
microscope because they reflect light at an angle different from that of the grains
themselves. Grain boundaries appears as black dark lines and the region between
them represent grains.
Electron Microscopy:
The electron microscope is a type of microscope that uses electrons to create an
image of the target. It has much higher magnification or resolving power than a
normal light microscope. Although modern electron microscopes can magnify
objects up to two million times, but optical microscope can magnify up to 2000
times. The electron microscope is an integral part of many laboratories.
Researchers use it to examine metals and crystalline structures, and the
characteristics of various surfaces. The electron microscope uses electrostatic and
electromagnetic lenses to form the image by controlling the electron beam. And
the electron beam is focused at specimen. It works in like light microscope, but it
uses electron beam instead of light on or through a specimen to form an image.
USE
Some structural elements are too fine that they cannot be seen by optical
microscope, so we use Electron microscope. Electron Microscope magnify the
material 1000X more than light microscope, so we can examine the grain
boundaries more closely and crystal structure.
The ability of a light microscope to form a three-dimensional image of extremely
small objects is limited. This is because a light microscope can only focus on one
level of space at a time. Electron microscopes do a greater job than light
microscopes do, which means that several two-dimensional layers of an object can
be in focus at once, providing an overall image in three-dimensional quality so the
material to be examined can be focused in 3 dimensional.
Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM):
A scanning tunneling microscope (STM) is a non-optical microscope that works by
scanning an electrical probe tip over the surface of a sample at a constant spacing.
The STM sample must conduct electricity for the process to work. The STM uses a
tip that ends in a single atom and a voltage is passed though the tip and the sample.
Electrons use a quantum mechanical effect to ‘tunnel’ from the tip to the sample
or vice versa. The current that results depends upon the distance between probe
tip and sample surface. The tip is attached to a piezoelectric tube and voltage
applied to the piezo rod is altered to maintain a constant distance for the tip from
the surface. Changes in this voltage allows a three-dimensional picture of the
material surface to be built up as the tip is scanned back and forth across the
sample.
USE
An STM is more efficient than other microscopes because it can have a resolution
down to 0.2nm, and small enough to resolve individual atoms.
STM give out remarkable detail and can give details about the surface of a material,
they are very useful for studying friction, surface roughness, defects and surface
reactions in materials like catalysts. STMs are also very important tools in research
surrounding semiconductors and microelectronics.
Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM):

It is the type of Electron microscopy in which we use the electron beams to examine
the surface of materials. It is same as Optical Microscope but here we use Electron
beams. It consists of long tube having cathode at top end to generate electron
beams and anode at lower end which attracts the electron beam and specimen to
be examined is placed between it. Detector is placed above the material to detect
the reflected beams from the surface which give information about surface.
USE
SEM gives higher resolution than optical microscope because it uses beam of
electrons.
The detector detects some electron beams which are reflected from the surface
due to elastic collision and some are generated by the surface due to inelastic
collision of beam. And both beams carry the different information.
Electron beams are focused on the surface of materials and the reflected beams
are collected which creates the image of surface of material. The electron beams
are reflected at different angles depending on the direction of crystals.

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Optical Microscopy:

The optical microscope also known as light microscope. It is a type of microscopy

Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM):

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