What is ultra-microtome?

An ultra-microtome is a specialized instrument used in microscopy for creating extremely thin specimens. It is used for cutting samples of biological or material specimens into extremely thin sections for the purpose of analysis under a transmission electron microscope (TEM). The sections cut by an ultra-microtome typically range from 20 to 300 nanometers in thickness. This instrument uses a diamond or glass knife to slice specimens. The process of using an ultra-microtome involves, embedding the sample in a hard plastic or resin, slicing the block to the desired thickness, and then mounting the ultra-thin sections on a TEM grid for further analysis. This technique is commonly used in various scientific fields such as cell biology, pathology, and materials science for investigating the fine structures of biological and non-biological samples.