On April 13, John Foust wrote:
Isn't it a bit finicky when it comes to vacuum
pumps,
cryogenics, etc.? After hanging out on the microscopy list,
I get the impression that even though people seem to be
giving away old electron microscopes as often as people
give away old mainframes, they'd be a bit hard to
maintain for home use.
Not at all. Cryo setups are almost never really needed, unless
you're running a cold trap on your vacuum system or an Xray detector.
And there's nothing finicky about vacuum pumps...get a decent one,
turn it on, and it just works.
I'd say taht, for the adventurous hobbyist, an SEM at home is a very
doable thing. I've had mine for about a year and have learned a great
deal and had a huge amount of fun.
What microscopy list are you talking about? Sounds like something I
ought to be on.
-Dave McGuire