Accession No

6897

Brief Description

archive material of Peter Duncumb relating to the design and development of the Electron Microprobe, English, mid- to late 20th Century

Origin

England; Cambridge

Maker

Duncumb, Peter

Class

metallurgy; microscopes;

Earliest Date

1950

Latest Date

1992

Inscription Date

Material

paper

Dimensions

Special Collection

Provenance

Inscription

Description Notes

Includes research papers, testing data, blueprints, diagrams, graphs, specifications, reference materials and posters, c late 1950s - 1992
4 archive boxes and oversize items

For a detailed catalogue, see the Museum's archive catalogue via the Cambridge University's archives database 'Archives Search' at https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk/repositories/45


The Electron Microprobe

Invented and first built in Cambridge, the electron microprobe is an instrument for very accurately determining which chemical elements something is made from. A sample is placed inside the column on the left of the instrument, and is then bombarded with electrons. The atoms in the sample absorb some of the energy from the electrons, re-emitting this energy in the form of X-ray radiation. By measuring the energy and intensity of this radiation, the microprobe can determine which elements are present in the sample, and in what proportions.

The electron microprobe design was developed from 1953 to 1956 by PhD student, Peter Duncumb, working under metallurgist Professor V. E. Cosslett in the University of Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory. A local Cambridge firm, Tube Investments, developed this design for industrial use, making the instrument held at the Whipple Museum, reference Accession 6726, which is the third complete microprobe ever produced. The Cambridge Instrument Company subsequently developed the first mass-produced version of the instrument, the very successful ‘Microscan’.

References

Events