A Picasso viewed under an electron microscope
You might almost think it was a piece by Picasso: three-dimensional cubes pile on top of each other in an esthetic arrangement. But this work of an art is none of Picasso's making. It is an enlargement of metal organic frameworks (MOFs).
MOFs are nanostructures with a cubic topology, highly porous organic matrices with the capacity to store high-energy gases like hydrogen and natural gas. The image is one of the "Images from the World of Research" series, which now has twelve new motifs showing leading-edge BASF research. The images in this series allow the viewer to explore structures that would otherwise only be for the eyes of analytical chemist. State-of-the-art technologies such as scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy help to create a genuinely different world view.
Electron microscope images by "eye of science"
The bulk of the images from the "Microworld of Science" series are by the science photographers Oliver Meckes and Nicole Ottawa. The two specialists for the esthetic representation of scientific themes set up their joint agency "eye of science" in 1994. Microscopy is their key area of photographic expertise. The main tools of the "eye of science" experts are scanning electron microscopy (SEM), light microscopy, a suitably equipped sample preparation lab, and high-performance computers for digital image processing. Almost all the samples are prepared and photographed in the agency's own SEM lab. "eye of science" have earned a number of prestigious awards for their works.
How the photographs come about: arrangement, technique and image processing
The first step is to affix the sample to SEM slides using special adhesives and the tiniest of tweezers. If the sample permits, an arrangement is assembled through a stereo magnifying glass. It is then coated with gold or platinum in a vacuum in order to establish electrical conductivity.
To enable photographic light projection in the SEM setup, "eye of science" added another two detectors to the standard set of secondary electron detectors. This greatly enhances the three-dimensional impression of the pictures thus created.
The electron microscopy image reproduces the surface structure of an object in black and white. It does not "see" colors. "eye of science" compensate for this deficit through the use of digital image processing techniques. The photography specialists render the photographed materials in their original colors, accurate to the last pixel.
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