In-situ Transmission Electron Microscopy

Abstract

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has hit a significant milestone of sub-angstrom resolution. On one hand, electron microscopists and materials scientists are enjoying the highest TEM spatial resolution ever attainable; on the other hand, study of materials in a steady state is hard to meet the increasing demand in new application fields such as nanocatalysts, nanocrystal growth, nanoelectronics, nanosensors, and nanomechanics in which size effect and structural or property responses to stimuli from the surrounding environment are key information to learn. Special attention is thus paid to in-situ TEM. A great deal of effort in developing and improving electron microscopes and specimen holders have resulted in unprecedented progresses in attaining insight into materials in dynamic environments. In many ways, transmission electron microscopes are now functionalized as workstations or nanoscale labs rather than just imaging tools. In this chapter, various types of in-situ TEM technologies are introduced accompanied by application examples. In parallel to the sub-angstrom breakthrough made by the aberration-corrected TEM, atomic resolution is now emphasized in advanced in-situ TEM, advancement on this aspect will be discussed together with other important notes and further challenges.