• 11 parts
  • Checked September 2026

Scanning Electron Microscope Diagram

A scanning electron microscope cut through its middle, from the electron gun down to the sample.

Scanning Electron Microscope Diagram

Name Date

Tap any part to read, rename or leave it out

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
More options

Write the name of each numbered part.Answer key

  1. Electron gun
  2. Electron beam
  3. Electron lenses
  4. Sample stage
  5. Display
  6. Vacuum pump
  7. Sample chamber
  8. Scanning coils
  9. Secondary electron detector
  10. Backscattered electron detector
  11. Column

Own drawing from plain geometry. Licence: own work.

Each numbered ring is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a part is answered.

Next step Next: the light microscope

All 11 parts on the diagram

Show the list

The column 5

  1. Electron gun Makes the electrons and speeds them down the column.
  2. Electron beam The stream of electrons aimed at the sample.
  3. Electron lenses Electromagnets that focus the beam to a fine point.
  4. Scanning coils Sweep the beam across the sample, line by line.
  5. Column The tall tube the beam travels down.

The chamber and beyond 6

  1. Sample stage Holds the sample in the chamber, under the beam.
  2. Display Shows the image, built up point by point.
  3. Vacuum pump Keeps the column and the chamber under vacuum.
  4. Sample chamber The space the sample sits in.
  5. Secondary electron detector Collects the electrons knocked out of the surface.
  6. Backscattered electron detector Collects the beam electrons that bounce back.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30 and kept only where at least two of these use it. (1) Wikipedia, Scanning electron microscope, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scanning_electron_microscope : an electron column with electron gun, electron lenses and vacuum pumps, and a console with a viewing screen; deflection coils sweep the beam across the specimen; backscattered and secondary electrons are collected by the detectors; the sample stage and sample chamber. (2) An instrument maker's teaching page, Scanning Electron Microscopy, https://www.nanoscience.com/techniques/scanning-electron-microscopy/ (an instrument maker's teaching page, read for names only): electron source or gun, condenser lenses and objective lens, scan coils above the objective lens, secondary and backscattered electron detectors, the sample on a stage in the chamber, display, vacuum pumps. (3) Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College, Scanning Electron Microscopy, https://serc.carleton.edu/research_education/geochemsheets/techniques/SEM.html : electron source or gun, electron lenses, sample stage, detectors, display, vacuum system. Licence: own work

The drawing: Own drawing from plain geometry; nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

This scanning electron microscope diagram shows the instrument cut through its middle. An electron beam runs down the column to the sample, and detectors in the chamber turn what comes off the sample into a picture.

Read the full guide

Down the column

The electron gun makes the electrons and speeds them up. Electron lenses, which are electromagnets, focus them into a fine beam. The scanning coils sweep that beam back and forth across the sample.

In the chamber

The sample sits on the stage. One detector collects secondary electrons knocked out of the surface; another collects backscattered electrons. The display builds the image point by point. Pumps keep the column and chamber under vacuum.

Questions and answers

What are the main parts of a scanning electron microscope?

An electron gun, electron lenses and scanning coils in the column; a sample stage and detectors in the sample chamber; vacuum pumps; and a computer and display that show the image.

What do the scanning coils do?

They deflect the electron beam so that it sweeps across the sample in a pattern of lines, a raster. The image is built from the signal measured at each point of the sweep.

What is the difference between the two detectors?

The secondary electron detector collects low-energy electrons knocked out near the surface, which show its shape. The backscattered electron detector collects higher-energy beam electrons that bounce back from deeper in the sample.

What does the electron gun do in an SEM?

It is the source of the beam, at the top of the column. It generates electrons and accelerates them down the column toward the sample.

More quizzes

Show 8 more

Browse Science Quizzes