Minimising damage in high resolution scanning transmission electron microscope images of nanoscale structures and processes

Nicholls, Daniel; Lee, Juhan; Amari, Houari; Stevens, Andrew; Mehdi, B. Layla; Browning, Nigel D.

doi:10.1039/d0nr04589f

Cited by 49 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 19 publications

(19 reference statements)

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“…These controls can be applied to any liquid system (not just water) greatly increasing the number of chemical experiments that can be performed in the microscope. Furthermore, when adopting advanced elements such as beam broadening 38 , more precise and subtle controls will also be available.…”

Section: Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Controlling radiolysis chemistry on the nanoscale in liquid cell scanning transmission electron microscopy

Lee

Nicholls

Browning

et al. 2021

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys.

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Section: Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Controlling radiolysis chemistry on the nanoscale in liquid cell scanning transmission electron microscopy

Lee

Nicholls

Browning

et al. 2021

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys.

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“…The two main damage types that samples experience are displacement effects and breaking of chemical bonds 46 . Imaging in TEM and STEM mode can generate similar integrated doses and dose rates but in TEM mode, a defined area for the entire image is illuminated, whereas a smaller area of the sample is illuminated with a similar peak dose/rate in STEM mode than the larger area in TEM mode (during the same acquisition time) 46 . Thus, an individual nanoparticle in, for example, a FIB section is exposed to a higher peak dose/rate in STEM than TEM mode.…”

Section: Sem-edsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transport and coarsening of gold nanoparticles in an orogenic deposit by dissolution–reprecipitation and Ostwald ripening

Hastie

Schindler

Kontak

et al. 2021

Commun Earth Environ

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The role of nanoparticle gold in the formation of gold deposits has long been debated. Evidence in support of this process is generally limited to epithermal-, Carlin- and seafloor massive-sulfide-type deposits where gold nanoparticles are associated with primary fluid related processes. At the Kenty orogenic deposit in Ontario, Canada, gold has been remobilized from early pyrite through secondary coupled dissolution-reprecipitation processes to form high-grade gold external to pyrite. Here we report gold nanoparticles and related textures that help document this gold coarsening process. A combination of focused ion beam technology and transmission electron microscopy provides a rare glimpse of gold coarsening frozen in time, which includes nanoparticles trapped in iron oxides and rutile and non-oriented attachment of gold nanoparticles to bulk gold suggesting coarsening via Ostwald ripening. The processes documented are applicable to orogenic deposits formed through Earth’s history, and may explain the formation of ultra high-grade ore zones.

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“…Nonetheless, it is important to point out that these methods can be applied to low dose settings when compared with the raster scan approach. Due to the reduced times achieved, sensitive materials, prone to damage by not only the total electron dose but also the dose rate, could be imagined, while also reducing drift and charging effects as the electron irradiation becomes more spread out 25 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

High temporal-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy using sparse-serpentine scan pathways

Ortega

Nicholls

Browning

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) provides structural analysis with sub-angstrom resolution. But the pixel-by-pixel scanning process is a limiting factor in acquiring high-speed data. Different strategies have been implemented to increase scanning speeds while at the same time minimizing beam damage via optimizing the scanning strategy. Here, we achieve the highest possible scanning speed by eliminating the image acquisition dead time induced by the beam flyback time combined with reducing the amount of scanning pixels via sparse imaging. A calibration procedure was developed to compensate for the hysteresis of the magnetic scan coils. A combination of sparse and serpentine scanning routines was tested for a crystalline thin film, gold nanoparticles, and in an in-situ liquid phase STEM experiment. Frame rates of 92, 23 and 5.8 s-1 were achieved for images of a width of 128, 256, and 512 pixels, respectively. The methods described here can be applied to single-particle tracking and analysis of radiation sensitive materials.

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Minimising damage in high resolution scanning transmission electron microscope images of nanoscale structures and processes

Abstract: Determining the optimum electron dose distribution for damage mitigated scanning transmission electron microscopy imaging using subsampling and image inpainting.

Cited by 49 publications

References 19 publications

Controlling radiolysis chemistry on the nanoscale in liquid cell scanning transmission electron microscopy

Controlling radiolysis chemistry on the nanoscale in liquid cell scanning transmission electron microscopy

Transport and coarsening of gold nanoparticles in an orogenic deposit by dissolution–reprecipitation and Ostwald ripening

High temporal-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy using sparse-serpentine scan pathways

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