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A virtual scanning electron microscope (SEM)

     Virtual Lab completely emulates a scanning electron microscope and allows any user to zoom and focus into a variety of built-in microscopic samples. It also comes with a set of educational materials such as a demo on how a SEM works and movies of the real thing in action.

      Virtual lab allows users to pan around a sample and zoom up to 3,600 x magnification. There are also controls to control focus, brightness, and contrast. It effectively simulates a real SEM's set of controls. It serves as a very accessable alternative compared to the costs of purchasing and setting up a real Electron Microscope.

      Virtual Lab is based on JAVA and can be run on both PC and Mac. Please refer to the download section for more information on system requirements for Virtual Lab.

A Complete starter's set of data

     Virtual Lab comes with an initial set of 15 samples of real life examples ranging from insects, advanced materials, manufacturing, and samples found in humans.

     Each sample has data with enough resolution for at least 900x viewing. Depending on type, some come with varying degrees of focusing allowing users to have a feeling of depth to the sample.

Learning materials

     Virtual Lab has an animated tutorial on the inner workings of an electron microscope. It covers the basics on the SEM itself, imaging, and resolution.

     In addition, Virtual Lab comes with videos demonstrating the preparation of actual samples and how SEMs are used in NASA.

A growing library

     There are plans to continue adding to Virtual Lab's library of samples. These will become available as updates which you may find here. Eventually, a tool set may be released to automate the creation of your own samples for use in Virtual Lab.