Stem microanalysis by transmission electron energy loss spectroscopy in crystals

Limits to the spatial, energy and momentum resolution of electron energy-loss spectroscopy

We discuss various factors that determine the performance of electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) and energy-filtered (EFTEM) imaging in a transmission electron microscope. Some of these factors are instrumental and have undergone substantial improvement in recent years, including the development of electron monochromators and aberration correctors. Others, such as radiation damage, delocalization of inelastic scattering and beam broadening in the specimen, derive from basic physics and are likely to remain as limitations. To aid the experimentalist, analytical expressions are given for beam broadening, delocalization length, energy broadening due to core-hole and excited-electron lifetimes, and for the momentum resolution in angle-resolved EELS.

Spectroscopic imaging of single atoms within a bulk solid

The ability to localize, identify, and measure the electronic environment of individual atoms will provide fundamental insights into many issues in materials science, physics, and nanotechnology. We demonstrate, using an aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope, the spectroscopic imaging of single La atoms inside CaTiO3. Dynamical simulations confirm that the spectroscopic information is spatially confined around the scattering atom. Furthermore, we show how the depth of the atom within the crystal may be estimated.

Atomic-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy imaging in aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy

The "delocalization" of inelastic scattering is an important issue for the ultimate spatial resolution of innershell spectroscopy in the electron microscope. It is demonstrated in a nonlocal model for electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) that delocalization of scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) images for single, isolated atoms is primarily determined by the width of the probe, even for light atoms. We present experimental data and theoretical simulations for Ti L-shell EELS in a [100] SrTiO3 crystal showing that, in this case, delocalization is not significantly increased by dynamical propagation. Issues relating to the use of aberration correctors in the STEM geometry are discussed.