Three-dimensional crystal defect imaging by STEM depth sectioning

One of the major innovations awaiting in electron microscopy is full three-dimensional imaging at atomic resolution.Despite the success of aberration correction to deep sub-angstrom lateral resolution,spatial resolution in depth is still far from atomic resolution.In scanning transmission electron microscopy(STEM),this poor depth resolution is due to the limitation of the illumination angle.To overcome this physical limitation,it is essential to implement a next-generation aberration corrector in STEM that can significantly improve the depth resolution.This review discusses the capability of depth sectioning for three-dimensional imaging combined with large-angle illumination STEM.Furthermore,the statistical analysis approach remarkably improves the depth resolution,making it possible to achieve three-dimensional atomic resolution imaging at oxide surfaces.We will also discuss the future prospects of three-dimensional imaging at atomic resolution by STEM depth sectioning.

A Simple,Compact and Rigid Scanning Tunneling Microscope

We present a homebuilt scanning tunneling microscope(STM)which employs an inner-wall polished sapphire guiding tube as a rail for the scanner to form a short tip-sample mechanical loop.The scanner is mounted on a square rod which is housed in the guiding tube and held by a spring strip.The stiff sapphire guiding tube allows the STM body to be made in a simple,compact and rigid form.Also the material of sapphire improves the thermal stability of the STM for its good thermal conductivity.To demonstrate the performance of the STM,high quality atomic-resolution STM images of high oriented pyrolytic graphite were given.

Direct observation of atomic-level fractal structure in a metallic glass membrane

Determination and conceptualization of atomic structures of metallic glasses or amorphous alloys remain a grand challenge.Structural models proposed for bulk metallic glasses are still controversial owing to experimental difficulties in directly imaging the atom positions in three-dimensional structures.With the advanced atomic-resolution imaging,here we directly observed the atomic arrangements in atomically thin metallic glassy membranes obtained by vapor deposition.The atomic packing in the amorphous membrane is shown to have a fractal characteristic,with the fractal dimension depending on the atomic density.Locally,the atomic configuration for the metallic glass membrane is composed of many types of polygons with the bonding angles concentrated on 45°-55°.The fractal atomic structure is consistent with the analysis by the percolation theory,and may account for the enhanced relaxation dynamics and the easiness of glass transition as reported for the thin metallic glassy films or glassy surface.

Atomic Force Microscopes Employing Laser Beam Deflection for Force Detection

The principle of scanning probe microscopes (SPM) was lust described by J. A. O’Keefe in the 1960s. In 1982, the scanning tunnelling microscope (STM), the first supreme example of SPM family, was developed; for which Binnig and Rohrer received the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physics. Shortly after that, in 1986 Binnig together with Quate and Gerber introduced the first atomic force microscope (AFM). Unlike the STM, the AFM