I don’t think an SEM is that much more complex, it’s just necessarily big due to the lack of miniaturization in the supporting components (lens system, transfor

I don’t think an SEM is that much more complex, it’s just necessarily big due to the lack of miniaturization in the supporting components (lens system, transformer, vacuum chamber). When I was a grad student, there was an old SEM from some defunct company that was being maintained by undergrad assistants (with the equivalent of duct tape and bubblegum)