Abstract
Multimodal in-situ experiments are the wave of the future, as this approach will permit multispectral data collection and analysis during real-time nanoscale observation. In contrast, the evolution of technique development in the electron microscopy field has generally trended toward specialization and subsequent bifurcation into more and more niche instruments, creating a challenge for reintegration and backward compatibility for in-situ experiments on state-of-the-art microscopes. We do not believe this to be a requirement in the field; therefore, we propose an adaptive instrument that is designed to allow nearly simultaneous collection of data from aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy (TEM), probe-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy, ultrafast TEM, and dynamic TEM with a flexible in-situ testing chamber, where the entire instrument can be modified as future technologies are developed. The value would be to obtain a holistic understanding of the underlying physics and chemistry of the process-structure–property relationships in materials exposed to controlled extreme environments. Such a tool would permit the ability to explore, in-situ, the active reaction mechanisms in a controlled manner emulating those of real-world applications with nanometer and nanosecond resolution. If such a powerful tool is developed, it has the potential to revolutionize our materials understanding of nanoscale mechanisms and transients.Graphical
Highlights
The transmission electron microscope (TEM) was developed with the goal to achieve imaging at a spatial resolution beyond the diffraction limit of optical microscopy [1]
This adaptive specimen assembly would permit simultaneous in-situ heating, cooling, gas/liquid, electrical biasing, straining, irradiation, and ion implantation, greatly increasing the number and combinations of stressor environments and analytical detectors that can be used to probe the sample, with the combined ability for the researcher to rapidly switch between various advanced microscopy techniques (CTEM, scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), DTEM, etc.)
Most major advancements in the field of electron microscopy were developed on a single tool, which required reintegration into modern tools for benefit of the advancement, though sometimes the development resulted in more specialized fields and associated instruments
Summary
The transmission electron microscope (TEM) was developed with the goal to achieve imaging at a spatial resolution beyond the diffraction limit of optical microscopy [1]. Reconfiguring the objective lens chamber can increase mechanical risk factors (instability in the column, possible loss of electron beam coherency, and potential depletion of beam current), these risks are outweighed by the numerous advantages of the ITEM for acquiring novel data about nanoscale transient materials phenomena that take place in extremely complex systems This adaptive specimen assembly would permit simultaneous in-situ heating, cooling, gas/liquid, electrical biasing, straining (indentation, compression, wear, fatigue, bending, etc.), irradiation (laser, electrons, and ions), and ion implantation, greatly increasing the number and combinations of stressor environments and analytical detectors that can be used to probe the sample, with the combined ability for the researcher to rapidly switch between various advanced microscopy techniques (CTEM, STEM, DTEM, etc.). Instead of collecting data at different optimized machines around the globe, researchers will be able to answer complex materials problems, solve interdisciplinary questions, provide faster iterations of nanoscale studies for true statistical qualifications, and provide deeper insight into the fundamental laws of physics and chemistry that govern transient states and control the evolution of mater
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