Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy of Eukaryotic Cells in Liquid

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

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...

Transmission Electron Microscopy of Lipid Vesicles in Liquid Cells

Liquid cell transmission electron microscopy (TEM) shows promise for enabling nanometer-scale imaging of fluid-hydrated biological material by enclosing specimens within windowed devices [1]. However, the thickness of the liquid cell reduces the signal-to-noise ratios of acquired images, a particular problem for researchers imaging biological specimens. Thus investigators typically image biolog...

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...