Quantifying transient states in materials with the dynamic transmission electron microscope

Approaches for ultrafast imaging of transient materials processes in the transmission electron microscope.

The growing field of ultrafast materials science, aimed at exploring short-lived transient processes in materials on the microsecond to femtosecond timescales, has spawned the development of time-resolved, in situ techniques in electron microscopy capable of capturing these events. This article gives a brief overview of two principal approaches that have emerged in the past decade: the strobosc...

Isotope analysis in the transmission electron microscope

The Ångström-sized probe of the scanning transmission electron microscope can visualize and collect spectra from single atoms. This can unambiguously resolve the chemical structure of materials, but not their isotopic composition. Here we differentiate between two isotopes of the same element by quantifying how likely the energetic imaging electrons are to eject atoms. First, we measure the dis...

Electron microscopy’s multi-tool: the Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope

A dedicated Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope is ideally coupled with the energy dispersive x-ray and electron energy loss spectroscopies to obtain information about the chemical composition, morphology and electronic structure on the nanoscale. With several signals being available simultaneously with the pass of a subnanometre-sized beam, this instrument can answer questions from a bro...

In situ straining experiments in the transmission electron microscope

Quantitative X-ray Elemental Imaging in Plant Materials at the Subcellular Level with a Transmission Electron Microscope: Applications and Limitations

Energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDX) is a technique for determining the distribution of elements in various materials. Here, we report a protocol for high-spatial-resolution X-ray elemental imaging and quantification in plant tissues at subcellular levels with a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM). Calibration standards were established by producing agar blocks loaded with i...