Seeing in 4D with electrons: Development of ultrafast electron microscopy at Caltech

Abstract

The vision to develop 4D electron microscopy, a union of the capabilities of electron microscopy with ultrafast techniques to capture clearly defined images of the nanoscale structure of a material at each step in the course of its chemical or physical transformations, has been pursued at Caltech for the last decade. In this contribution, we will give a brief overview of the capabilities of three currently active Caltech 4D microscopy laboratories. Ongoing work is illustrated by a description of the most recent application of photon-induced near-field electron microscopy (PINEM), a field made possible only by the development of the 4D ultrafast electron microscopy (UEM). An appendix gives the various applications made so far and the historic roots of the development at Caltech.