The Oak Ridge Program for High Resolution Microscopy

Abstract

In the latter part of 1967, a program began at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the development of high resolution microscopy. The immediate design goal is a point-to-point resolution of at least 1 Å, to allow superior delineation of organelle structures, as well to offer a possibility of atomic identification and location in complex biomolecules. The proposed techniques seem to offer in principle the possibility of resolution limited only by random thermal motion in the sample.Theoretical studies of both lens aberrations and image formation are being actively pursued. The aberration studies are aimed at design of a practical corrector for the primary spherical aberration, along lines first suggested by Archard. The image studies partially described elsewhere in these proceedings are aimed both at optimizing instrument performance and at the development of adequate methods for interpretation of high resolution phase contrast data.