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microscope

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Compound microscope microscope, optical instrument used to increase the apparent size of an object. The electron microscope, which is not limited by the powers of optical lenses and light,...

blink microscope

(Encyclopedia)blink microscope, in astronomy, device for determining a change in position or magnitude (brightness) of a star relative to other stars in the background. Two photographs of the same field or area of ...

atomic force microscope

(Encyclopedia)atomic force microscope (AFM), device that uses a spring-mounted probe to image individual atoms on the surface of a material, first developed by Gerd Binnig in 1986. Unlike the scanning tunneling mic...

scanning tunneling microscope

(Encyclopedia)scanning tunneling microscope (STM), device for studying and imaging individual atoms on the surfaces of materials. The instrument was invented in the early 1980s by Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer, w...

Ruska, Ernst

(Encyclopedia)Ruska, Ernst, 1906–88, German electrical engineer. By applying the discovery that electron waves are 100,000 times shorter than those of light, Ruska built a microscope that used a beam of electrons...

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