A (S)TEM Gas Cell Holder with Localized Laser Heating for In Situ Experiments

作者:Mehraeen Shareghe*; McKeown Joseph T; Deshmukh Pushkarraj V; Evans James E; Abellan Patricia; Xu Pinghong; Reed Bryan W; Taheri Mitra L; Fischione Paul E; Browning Nigel D
来源:Microscopy and Microanalysis, 2013, 19(2): 470-478.
DOI:10.1017/S1431927612014419

摘要

The advent of aberration correction for transmission electron microscopy has transformed atomic resolution imaging into a nearly routine technique for structural analysis. Now an emerging frontier in electron microscopy is the development of in situ capabilities to observe reactions at atomic resolution in real time and within realistic environments. Here we present a new in situ gas cell holder that is designed for compatibility with a wide variety of sample type (i.e., dimpled 3-mm discs, standard mesh grids, various types of focused ion beam lamellae attached to half grids). Its capabilities include localized heating and precise control of the gas pressure and composition while simultaneously allowing atomic resolution imaging at ambient pressure. The results show that 0.25-nm lattice fringes are directly visible for nanoparticles imaged at ambient pressure with gas path lengths up to 20 mu m. Additionally, we quantitatively demonstrate that while the attainable contrast and resolution decrease with increasing pressure and gas path length, resolutions better than 0.2 nm should be accessible at ambient pressure with gas path lengths less than the 15 mu m utilized for these experiments.

  • 出版日期2013-4