High voltage and high resolution electron microscopy in materials science

Ultra-high resolution scanning electron microscopy of biological materials.

In recent years, several ultrahigh resolution scanning electron microscopes (SEM) were successively developed. They were all equipped with a field emission electron gun and an objective lens with a short focal length, and showed a resolution better than 1 nm. With such instrument, not only intracellular structures but also virus, bacteriophages, and biological macromolecules were clearly observ...

High-resolution transmission electron microscopy

High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) has been widely and effectively used for analyzing crystal structures and lattice imperfections in various kinds of advanced materials on an atomic scale. This is especially the case for high Tc superconductors (HTSCs). The most characteristic feature in crystal structures of HTSCs is that there is a common structural element, a CuO2 plan...

High-resolution electron microscopy and electron tomography: resolution versus precision.

The performance of high-resolution electron microscopy and electron tomography is usually discussed in terms of two-point resolution, expressing the possibility of perceiving separately two image points of an object. However, the concept resolution obtains another meaning if one uses prior knowledge about the object and the imaging procedure in the form of a parametric model describing the expe...

The Critical Voltage Effect in High-Voltage Electron' Microscopy

The future of atomic resolution electron microscopy for materials science

The field of atomic-resolution transmission electron microscopy and its application to materials science is reviewed. This technique, whose spatial resolution is now about one Angstrom, is valuable wherever nanoscale characterization of materials is needed. The history of the subject is briefly outlined, followed by a discussion of experimental techniques. Resolution-limiting factors are summar...