The Underrated Tool Behind the Tech Boom

There are some areas of research which remind me of the gold rush. Not because there is gold there but because there are always other organisations that profit, regardless of the outcome!

If we look at some of the big areas of hype these days – semiconductors, energy, nanotechnology – I cannot help but think there is another adjacent field which connects them together, also benefitting from the hype.

I am referring to the field of electron microscopy. In a nutshell, this tool allows researchers to visualise objects at a very small scale (down to the nanometre), which makes it very useful in so many different areas of research.

🔬 How It Works & Why It’s Critical

Unlike standard microscopes that use light, electron microscopes work by using beams of electrons, which allows users to see at the nanometre scale.

This allows researchers to see structures that otherwise would not be possible to see with a light microscope. We can now visualise things like cellular structures, surfaces, and nanoparticles.

This is really important in the design and manufacturing of materials in different applications such as batteries and semiconductors, which are really important technologies we use today – and that are attracting significant investment.

Without electron microscopy, we would literally be blind in fields like nanotechnology, drug development, and quantum computing. This is because, without electron microscopy, we would have limited knowledge in how different processes determine fine structure – which also affects resulting properties.

In my opinion, it’s certainly one of those technologies that quietly underpins nearly everything we call “advanced.”

⏱ Why This Matters Now

Electron microscopy tools have become widely used in a myriad of industries, as they aim for atomic-level control of materials.

There is huge investment being poured into industries involved with semiconductors, batteries, and biotechnology, where more precision is desired to create the next generation of technologies.

This precision requires the usage of electron microscopy tools. Because of its importance as a research tool in a wide variety of ‘hyped-up’ fields, the usage and relevance of electron microscopy tools will naturally increase.

📌 One example to highlight the above is the miniaturisation of semiconductor materials, which becomes easy to study using electron microscopy tools.

Additionally, as AI models are utilised more, electron microscopy can be coupled with machine learning for faster, and more informative analysis. This may also increase its relevance in today’s research community.

📊 Market Analysis

The net worth of the electron microscopy market amounted to $4.85 billion in 2025, and is forecasted to reach around $10.11 billion in 2034.

This yields a CAGR of 8.5% across that period. The growth can be attributed to increased government grants to develop advanced technologies, particularly in the semiconductor industry.

Growth is also being fuelled by other industries such as pharmaceuticals and battery technology.

🧠 My Take: More Than a Microscope

Electron microscopy is sometimes framed as just a lab tool, something which just generates images. But I think that misses the point.

To me, it's a fundamental tool which allows the progression of so many areas of science. It's what lets us see the problems we’re trying to solve:
• battery degradation
• protein folding
• nano-defects in semiconductors
• corrosion in infrastructure

It allows you to connect properties of a material with structure. Without this level of detail, much of today’s innovation, especially in advanced technology, would simply just be guesswork.

What’s rarely discussed is how dependent we are becoming on this visibility. As we move toward smaller, smarter, and more sustainable materials, I see electron microscopy, especially those with specialised techniques and higher resolution, becoming part of the core infrastructure of innovation.

However, a downside and risk to its growth is that it’s also expensive and requires technical skills and knowledge to operate.

This limits its use to special types of labs which have strong experience and knowledge to operate them.

Another threat to its growth is the existence of other types of microscopy tools, such as atomic force microscopy (AFM), which can also reveal similar information about a sample. AFM is a technique which I utilised a lot during my PhD research, and I often found it to be just as useful as electron microscopy tools to reveal the information I needed.

Furthermore, AFM has the advantage of being easy to operate without the requirement of specialised knowledge and training that are needed for specialised electron microscopy tools.

There are also other types of microscopy tools, such as those based on electrochemistry, which may gain traction due to the information they reveal about samples – that traditional electron microscopy techniques fail to reveal.

🤖 AI Integration & New Growth Frontiers

Another area of growth is the integration of AI with microscopy imaging.

The application of AI with vast libraries of microscopy data may allow researchers to identify subtle patterns and correlations which may be difficult for humans to detect manually.

This may allow us to identify correlations between microstructural features with material properties like strength, conductivity, and degradation behaviour. It would also allow researchers to realise links between processing techniques and their resulting microstructures.

Thank you for reading.

Qasim Ibraheeme