Incredible photos of record grooves under an electron microscope

A stunning (and scary?) close-up of vinyl record grooves.

Tactile and textured, vinyl is all about psychical character. So we were delighted to find these striking photos of vinyl under a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Although less delighted – and actually quite horrified – to see how much dirt and dust was lurking in between the grooves.

Not any old microscope, an SEM produces images of a sample with stunning clarity and depth of field by scanning it with a focused beam of electrons. Chris Supranowitz (Institute Of Optics) had the winning idea of using an SEM to create the intricate topography of vinyl below.