Installation of electric field electron beam blanker in high-resolution transmission electron microscopy

Abstract

We have newly installed an electric field electron beam blanker in a transmission electron microscopy, which chops an electron beam very quickly without the effect of hysteresis. The electric field, which is generated by the electron beam blanker, deflects the electron beam, and the electron beam is intercepted by an aperture. The response time of the beam blanker is 50μs. Therefore, a very short pulsed electron beam enables a charge-coupled device camera to directly expose an electron beam spot or diffraction pattern. Moreover, we measured the response of a deflector coil, which is usually used as an electron beam blanker, using our electron beam blanker. Our beam blanker will become a key component in a computer-assisted minimal dose system, which enables us to reduce the electron dose of the sample.