In 1925, Louis de Broglie first theorized the wave-like properties of an electron, with a wavelength substantially smaller than visible light. This would allow the use of electrons to image objects much smaller than the previous diffraction limit set by visible light. The first STEM was built in 1938 by Baron Manfred von Ardenne, working in Berlin for Siemens. However, at the time the results were inferior to those of transmission electron microscopy, and von Ardenne only spent two years working on the problem. The microscope was destroyed in an air raid in 1944, and von Ardenne did not return to his work after World War II.