Phase imaging in electron microscopy is sensitive to the local potential including charge redistribution from bonding. We demonstrate that electron ptychography provides the necessary sensitivity to detect this subtle effect by directly imaging the charge redistribution in single layer boron nitride. Residual aberrations can be measured and corrected post-collection, and simultaneous atomic number contrast imaging provides unambiguous sub-lattice identification. Density functional theory calculations confirm the detection of charge redistribution.
We report on the observability of valence bonding effects in aberration-corrected high resolution electron microscopy (HREM) images along the [010] projection of the mineral Forsterite(Mg2SiO4). We have also performed exit wave restorations using simulated noisy images and have determined that both the intensities of individual images and the modulus of the restored complex exit wave are most sensitive to bonding effects at a level of 25% for moderately thick samples of 20-25 nm. This relatively large thickness is due to dynamical amplification of bonding contrast arising from partial de-channeling of 1s states.
Transmission electron microscopes use electrons with wavelengths of a few picometers, potentially capable of imaging individual atoms in solids at a resolution ultimately set by the intrinsic size of an atom. Unfortunately, due to imperfections in the imaging lenses and multiple scattering of electrons in the sample, the image resolution reached is 3 to 10 times worse. Here, by inversely solving the multiple scattering problem and overcoming the aberrations of the electron probe using electron ptychography to recover a linear phase response in thick samples, we demonstrate an instrumental blurring of under 20 picometers. The widths of atomic columns in the measured electrostatic potential are now no longer limited by the imaging system, but instead by the thermal fluctuations of the atoms. We also demonstrate that electron ptychography can potentially reach a sub-nanometer depth resolution and locate embedded atomic dopants in all three dimensions with only a single projection measurement.
Imaging the magnetic structure of a material is essential to understanding the influence of the physical and chemical microstructure on its magnetic properties. Magnetic imaging techniques, however, have up to now been unable to probe 3D micrometer-sized systems with nanoscale resolution. Here we present the imaging of the magnetic domain configuration of a micrometre-thick FeGd multilayer with hard X-ray dichroic ptychography at energies spanning both the Gd L3 edge and the Fe K edge, providing a high spatial resolution spectroscopic analysis of the complex X-ray magnetic circular dichroism. With a spatial resolution reaching 45 nm, this advance in hard X-ray magnetic imaging is the first step towards the investigation of buried magnetic structures and extended three-dimensional magnetic systems at the nanoscale.
Atomic vibrations control all thermally activated processes in materials including diffusion, heat transport, phase transformations, and surface chemistry. Recent developments in monochromated, aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) have enabled nanoscale probing of vibrational modes using a focused electron beam. However, to date, no experimental atomic resolution vibrational spectroscopy has been reported. Here we demonstrate atomic resolution by exploiting localized impact excitations of vibrational modes in materials. We show that the impact signal yields high spatial resolution in both covalent and ionic materials, and atomic resolution is available from both optical and acoustic vibrational modes. We achieve a spatial resolution of better than 2 {AA} which is an order of magnitude improvement compared to previous work. Our approach represents an important technical advance that can be used to provide new insights into the relationship between the thermal, elastic and kinetic properties of materials and atomic structural heterogeneities.
It is known that when strong electric field is applied to a semiconductor sample, the current voltage characteristic deviates from the linear response. In this letter, we propose a new point of view of nonlinearity in semiconductors which is associated with the electron temperature dependence on the recombination rate. The heating of the charge carriers breaks the balance between generation and recombination, giving rise to nonequilibrium charge carriers concentration and nonlinearity.
Gerardo T. Martinez
,Timothy C. Naginey
,Lewys Jones
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(2019)
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"Direct Imaging of Charge Redistribution due to Bonding at Atomic Resolution via Electron Ptychography"
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Peter Nellist
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