Team explores nanoscale objects and processes with microwave microscopy

When lots of energy hits an atom, it can knock off electrons, making the atom extremely chemically reactive and initiating further destruction. That's why radiation is so dangerous. It's also why high-resolution imaging techniques that use energetic electron beams and X-rays can alter, even obliterate, the samples they explore. For example, monitoring battery dynamics using electron microscopy can introduce artifacts that interfere with electrochemical processes. Another case in point: Employing