proton scattering microscope

proton scattering microscope

[′prō‚tän ¦skad·ə·riŋ ′mī·krə‚skōp] (solid-state physics) A microscope in which protons produced in a cold-cathode discharge are accelerated and focused on a crystal in a vacuum chamber; protons reflected from the crystal strike a fluorescent screen to give a visual and photographable display that is related to the structure of the target crystal.