field-ion microscope
a device in which the atomic structure of the surface of a conductor is made visible by introducing helium gas into the device and applying a high voltage to ionize and accelerate the gas toward a fluorescent screen.
Origin of field-ion microscope
1- Also called ion microscope .
- Compare field-emission microscope.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
Scientific definitions for field ion microscope
A microscope that produces an image of a sample of molecules, or even individual atoms, on the surface of a metal tip. Gas atoms absorbed in the tip are positively ionized by an electric field, and the tip is given a strong positive electric charge, causing the ions to be repelled and thus fly away from the tip. The pattern that the ions form on a collecting surface provides an image of the sample on the tip.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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