1. Breaking the Crowther limit: Combining depth-sectioning and tilt tomography for high-resolution, wide-field 3D reconstructions.
- Author
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Hovden, Robert, Ercius, Peter, Jiang, Yi, Wang, Deli, Yu, Yingchao, Abruña, Héctor D., Elser, Veit, and Muller, David A.
- Subjects
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TOMOGRAPHY , *HIGH resolution imaging , *IMAGE reconstruction , *ELECTRON microscopes , *THREE-dimensional imaging , *NANOPOROUS materials - Abstract
Abstract: To date, high-resolution (<1nm) imaging of extended objects in three-dimensions (3D) has not been possible. A restriction known as the Crowther criterion forces a tradeoff between object size and resolution for 3D reconstructions by tomography. Further, the sub-Angstrom resolution of aberration-corrected electron microscopes is accompanied by a greatly diminished depth of field, causing regions of larger specimens (>6nm) to appear blurred or missing. Here we demonstrate a three-dimensional imaging method that overcomes both these limits by combining through-focal depth sectioning and traditional tilt-series tomography to reconstruct extended objects, with high-resolution, in all three dimensions. The large convergence angle in aberration corrected instruments now becomes a benefit and not a hindrance to higher quality reconstructions. A through-focal reconstruction over a 390nm 3D carbon support containing over 100 dealloyed and nanoporous PtCu catalyst particles revealed with sub-nanometer detail the extensive and connected interior pore structure that is created by the dealloying instability. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]
- Published
- 2014
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