In 2018, Cornell University physicists set a world record by tripling the solution of a state-of-the-art electron microscope. On that occasion, obtaining the image of atoms caused a stir among the scientific community, although there was a deficiency in the system. But now they’ve done it again they improved the resolution and captured images of atoms with the highest resolution ever.
The high power detector and the algorithm called ‘pictograph’ developed by the physicists in 2018 set a record back then. However, he had a weakness; it could only shoot ultrasonic samples, that is, ultrathin samples that were a few atoms thick. Years later, physicists improved this system and have achieved the highest resolution in the history of an atom.
Improvements to the pictographic record
The Cornell University team led by David Muller was in charge of implementing the improvements and breaking their own record. They developed an electron microscope pixel array detector (EMPAD), which incorporates even more sophisticated 3D reconstruction algorithms.
Cornell University
The resolution of the image captured through the reconstruction of electronic pictography is so adjusted that the only blur that can be seen is the thermal movement of the atoms themselves.
“This not only sets a new record. You have reached a regime that will effectively be a ceiling for resolution. Basically, now we can find out where the atoms are in a very easy way,” explains Muller.
Pictography works by scanning overlapping scattering patterns of a material sample and then looking for changes in the overlapping region. Thus, by noting the changes in the patterns, the shape of the object that caused the patterns can be calculated. The data is then reconstructed through complex algorithms and finely renders an ultra-precise image accurate to within a picometer. In other words, an image of a given region is observed at a magnification of 100 million times.
New areas of opportunity
The new and improved system opens up a lot of new measurement possibilities that until now scientists have not been able to translate into figures. It will make it possible to locate individual atoms in all three dimensions, when they might otherwise be hidden using other imaging methods. That is to say that now details of what they had not noticed before due to the lack of adequate technology did not escape them.
New technology could be particularly useful for imaging semiconductors, catalysts, and quantum materials. Including those used in quantum computing, as well as to analyze atoms at the boundaries where materials join.
But quantum will not be the only branch where electron pictography would be useful. High-resolution imaging of atoms could also be applied in biology. For analyze cells or thick biological tissues, including the intricate connections of synapses in the brain.
Muller explains the new record resolution in a very peculiar way: “Up until now, we’ve all been wearing really bad glasses. And now we have a really good pair. Why wouldn’t you want to take off your old glasses, put on your new ones, and wear them all the time?
References:
Muller, D. Chen, Z. Jiang, Y. Holtz, M. Guizar, M. Hanke, I. Ganschow, S. Schlom, D. Electron ptychography achieves atomic-resolution limits set by lattice vibrations. Science. DOI
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