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Ultramicrotomy



Ultramicrotomy is a method for preparing a sample, often tissue embedded in resin, for examination in a transmission electron microscope (TEM). The sample block is first trimmed to create a block face 1 mm by 1 mm in size. "Thick" sections (1 μm) are taken to be looked at on an optical microscope. An area is chosen to be sectioned for the TEM and the block face is re-trimmed to a size no larger than 0.7 mm on a side. Block faces usually have a square, trapezoid, rectangle or triangle shape. Finally, thin sections are cut with a diamond or glass knife and the sections are left floating on water that is held in a boat or trough. The sections are then retrieved from the water surface and mounted on a copper, nickel or other metal grid. Ideal section thickness for transmission electron microscopy with accelerating voltages between 50 kV and 120 kV is about 50–100 nm.

 
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Ultramicrotomy". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.
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