Stereoscopic Imaging and 3D Analysis

Another method is automated serial sectioning of specimens with an ultramicrotome integrated into an environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM). This method involves imaging the surface of the specimen after removal of each slice. The reason for the choice of an ESEM (or a variable-pressure SEM) is to avoid specimen charging. The experimental setup of such an ultramicrotome operating in situ within an ESEM is described in [16]. 

The spatial morphology of a material can be demonstrated by sectioning a sample in three different directions and arranging the separate micrographs in the three orientations see Fig. 3.35(a). 

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