Purdue Electron Microscopy Center
The Purdue Electron Microscopy Center (PEMC) provides Purdue researchers access to state-of-the-art electron microscopy instrumentation and provides service, consultation, and training to assist scientists in achieving their research objectives. The staff in the PEMC come from a wide range of scientific backgrounds, allowing the Center to provide guidance to a broad group of researchers. There are both self-use and service options available. The PEMC contains research equipment for use by students, faculty, postdocs, and service staff.
We use iLab for reservations, training requests, and billing. Click here.
The PEMC is a campus-wide core facility with equipment and microscopes in three separate buildings—Whistler, Birck, and Armstrong.
Technology in the EM Center includes transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and dual SEM/ Ion beam systems. There are 11 electron microscopes in the EM Center, each with unique capabilities. This variety of microscopes provides access to analytical techniques like energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX/EDS), electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). Equipment is available for sample preparation, including focused ion beam, cryo SEM, ultramicrotomy, critical point drying, sputter coating, and ion polishing. Staff in the Center provide expertise in a wide range of specialized preparation and analytical techniques and are always happy to help.
Our Stats from the Last Twelve Months
Our best statistic is the number of students, research groups, and departments we support. We strive to provide excellence in electron microscopy to help all scientific fields drive their research forward.
Our statistics from April 2024 - April 2025. Projects begin with a discussion. This is usually between the facility director and the researcher and ideally their mentor/PI. The goal of the discussion is to talk over the science questions of the project. Instrumentation needs and protocols come after that discussion.
To get started with a project please fill in a service request on our ilab page. You can find the form here.
The first decision is whether the work will be done independently or as a service. If independent, then we will arrange training. Training is always one-on-one at a mutually agreeable time. Also the training is carried out with the user's real samples. If service will be used then we will arrange which staff member will do the work and schedule receipt of samples.
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Join the EM Center Team to receive updates for specific microscopes. Turn on notifications for the microscopes you use, and turn them off for the ones you don't.
Outreach
The PEMC participates in outreach and education of learners of all ages. Throughout the year, we are involved with outreach covering a range of ages from toddler through graduate students and beyond. Our electron microscopes are not just hidden away for only graduate students to use; we are continuously striving to educate the general public about the beauty and wonder that is revealed by electron microscopy.
Our involvement with outreach includes participation in the Purdue College of Agriculture's Spring Fest, an event which is designed for all ages to learn more about the natural world. Both children and adults were fascinated by the detail and intricacies found in nature that are only visible through the high magnification images that electron microscopy provides.
You can read more about our presence at Spring Fest here.
Each summer, Rosa Diaz organizes a 2 week summer camp for middle-schoolers to learn about a range of scientific topics and get hands-on experience with some of the high end equipment we have on campus. The camp is typically focused on biomimicry, and the electron microscopes allow the students to see small structures of butterfly wings, examine tardigrades, and look at the surface texture of leaves, among other things. These students end the camp by presenting a poster summarizing what they learned and coming up with real-world applications involving biomimicry.
Each fall, the undergraduates in ABE 226 have the opportunity to find, isolate, and grow bacteriophage over the course of the semester. At the very end of the semester, they are able to come and see the phage that they have spent all semester analyzing and finally see them with their own eyes with the help of one of our transmission electron microscopes (TEM). Professor Kari Clase runs this class every year and Amanda Limiac works closely with the students throughout the semester, including visiting us each year to enjoy the TEM while helping to prepare samples to go into the microscope.
Undergraduates in Materials Engineering have the opportunity to work with industry partners as part of their Senior Design projects where they are able to help solve real-world problems. These undergraduates gain hands-on experience with a wide range of instrumentation for materials characterization over the course of their project and many of them are trained to use our scanning electron microscopes (SEMs) as part of their project. We see lots of frantic use at the end of each spring semester as undergraduates are putting the finishing touches on their projects!
Our involvement with outreach includes participation in the Purdue College of Agriculture's Spring Fest, an event which is designed for all ages to learn more about the natural world. Both children and adults were fascinated by the detail and intricacies found in nature that are only visible through the high magnification images that electron microscopy provides.
You can read more about our presence at Spring Fest here.
Each summer, Rosa Diaz organizes a 2 week summer camp for middle-schoolers to learn about a range of scientific topics and get hands-on experience with some of the high end equipment we have on campus. The camp is typically focused on biomimicry, and the electron microscopes allow the students to see small structures of butterfly wings, examine tardigrades, and look at the surface texture of leaves, among other things. These students end the camp by presenting a poster summarizing what they learned and coming up with real-world applications involving biomimicry.
Each fall, the undergraduates in ABE 226 have the opportunity to find, isolate, and grow bacteriophage over the course of the semester. At the very end of the semester, they are able to come and see the phage that they have spent all semester analyzing and finally see them with their own eyes with the help of one of our transmission electron microscopes (TEM). Professor Kari Clase runs this class every year and Amanda Limiac works closely with the students throughout the semester, including visiting us each year to enjoy the TEM while helping to prepare samples to go into the microscope.
Undergraduates in Materials Engineering have the opportunity to work with industry partners as part of their Senior Design projects where they are able to help solve real-world problems. These undergraduates gain hands-on experience with a wide range of instrumentation for materials characterization over the course of their project and many of them are trained to use our scanning electron microscopes (SEMs) as part of their project. We see lots of frantic use at the end of each spring semester as undergraduates are putting the finishing touches on their projects!