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To date, high-resolution (6 nm) 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 390 nm 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.

Abstract: Mono-atomic-layer membranes such as graphene offer new opportunities for imaging and detecting individual light atoms in transmission electron microscopes (TEM). For such applications where multiple scattering and diffraction effects are weak, we evaluate the detection efficiency and interpretability of single atom images for the most common detector geometries using quantitative quantum mechanical simulations. For well-resolved and atomically-thin specimens, the low angle annular dark field (LAADF) detector can provide a significant increase in signal-to-noise over other common detector geometries including annular bright field and incoherent bright field. This dramatically improves the visibility of organic specimens on atomic-layer membranes. Simulations of Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) imaged under ideal conditions indicate the minimal dose requirements for elastic imaging by STEM or conventional TEM still exceed previously reported dose limits. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The high beam current and subangstrom resolution of aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopes has enabled electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) mapping with atomic resolution. These spectral maps are often dose limited and spatially oversampled, leading to low counts/channel and are thus highly sensitive to errors in background estimation. However, by taking advantage of redundancy in the dataset map, one can improve background estimation and increase chemical sensitivity. We consider two such approaches—linear combination of power laws and local background averaging—that reduce background error and improve signal extraction. Principal component analysis (PCA) can also be used to analyze spectrum images, but the poor peak-to-background ratio in EELS can lead to serious artifacts if raw EELS data are PCA filtered. We identify common artifacts and discuss alternative approaches. These algorithms are implemented within the Cornell Spectrum Imager, an open source software package for spectroscopic analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The optimal lens parameters for incoherent imaging using third and fifth-order aberration-corrected electron microscopes are derived analytically. We propose simple models for the point spread function (PSF) and transfer function that give analytic formulae for the lateral resolution and depth resolution. We also derive an analytic formula for the contrast transfer function (CTF) in three dimensions and show that depth sectioning has an information limit equivalent to tomography with a missing cone of minus the aperture angle. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]