Writing Silica Structures in Liquid with Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy

Writing silica structures in liquid with scanning transmission electron microscopy.

Silica nanoparticles are imaged in solution with scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) using a liquid cell with silicon nitride (SiN) membrane windows. The STEM images reveal that silica structures are deposited in well-defined patches on the upper SiN membranes upon electron beam irradiation. The thickness of the deposits is linear with the applied electron dose. Scanning electron m...

15. Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy

Elemental mapping in scanning transmission electron microscopy

We discuss atomic resolution chemical mapping in scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) based on core-loss electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) and also on energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) imaging. Chemical mapping using EELS can yield counterintuitive results which, however, can be understood using first principles calculations. Experimental chemical maps based on EDX bear out the t...

Visualizing Gold Nanoparticle Uptake in Live Cells with Liquid Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy

The intracellular uptake of 30 nm diameter gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) was studied at the nanoscale in pristine eukaryotic cells. Live COS-7 cells were maintained in a microfluidic chamber and imaged using scanning transmission electron microscopy. A quantitative image analysis showed that Au-NPs bound to the membranes of vesicles, possibly lysosomes, and occupied 67% of the available surface a...

Scanning transmission low-energy electron microscopy

We discuss an extension to the transmission mode of the cathode-lens-equipped scanning electron microscope, enabling operation down to the lowest energies of electrons. Penetration of electrons through free-standing ultrathin films is examined along the full energy scale, and the contribution of the secondary electrons (SEs), released near the bottom surface of the sample, is shown, enhancing t...