Seeing Quantum Materials with Cryogenic Transmission Electron Microscopy

Interface Visualization of Bio-material Interaction Via Cryo-AEM Using the Biosynthesis of Iron-Based Nanoparticles as a Model

Although interaction between organisms and nonorganisms is vital in environmental processes, it is difficult to characterize at nanoscale resolution. Biosynthesis incorporates intracellular and extracellular processes involving crucial interfacial functions and electron and substance transfer processes, especially on the inorganic-organic interface. This work chooses the biosynthesis of iron-based nanoparticles (nFe) as a model for biomaterial interaction and employs Cryo-AEM (i.e., S/TEM, EELS, and EDS analysis based on sample preparation with cryo-transfer holder system), combined with CV, Raman, XPS, and FTIR to reveal the inorganic-organic interface process. The inorganic-organic interactions in the biosynthesis of iron-based nanoparticles by Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 (M-nFe) were characterized by changes in electron cloud density, and the corresponding chemical shifts of Fe and C EELS edges confirm that M-nFe acquires electrons from MR-1 on the interface. Capturing intact filamentous-like, slightly curved, and bundled structure provides solid evidence of a "circuit channel" for electron transfer between organic and inorganic interface. CV results also confirm that adding M-nFe can enhance electron transfer from MR-1 to ferric ions. A mechanism for the synthesis of M-nFe with MR-1 based on intracellular and extracellular conditions under facultative anaerobic was visualized, providing a protocol for investigating the organic-inorganic interface.

Accelerating Quantum Materials Development with Advances in Transmission Electron Microscopy

Quantum materials are driving a technology revolution in sensing, communication, and computing, while simultaneously testing many core theories of the past century. Materials such as topological insulators, complex oxides, superconductors, quantum dots, color center-hosting semiconductors, and other types of strongly correlated materials can exhibit exotic properties such as edge conductivity, multiferroicity, magnetoresistance, superconductivity, single photon emission, and optical-spin locking. These emergent properties arise and depend strongly on the material's detailed atomic-scale structure, including atomic defects, dopants, and lattice stacking. In this review, we describe how progress in the field of electron microscopy (EM), including in situ and in operando EM, can accelerate advances in quantum materials and quantum excitations. We begin by describing fundamental EM principles and operation modes. We then discuss various EM methods such as (i) EM spectroscopies, including electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), cathodoluminescence (CL), and electron energy gain spectroscopy (EEGS); (ii) four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy (4D-STEM); (iii) dynamic and ultrafast EM (UEM); (iv) complementary ultrafast spectroscopies (UED, XFEL); and (v) atomic electron tomography (AET). We describe how these methods could inform structure-function relations in quantum materials down to the picometer scale and femtosecond time resolution, and how they enable precision positioning of atomic defects and high-resolution manipulation of quantum materials. For each method, we also describe existing limitations to solve open quantum mechanical questions, and how they might be addressed to accelerate progress. Among numerous notable results, our review highlights how EM is enabling identification of the 3D structure of quantum defects; measuring reversible and metastable dynamics of quantum excitations; mapping exciton states and single photon emission; measuring nanoscale thermal transport and coupled excitation dynamics; and measuring the internal electric field and charge density distribution of quantum heterointerfaces- all at the quantum materials' intrinsic atomic and near atomic-length scale. We conclude by describing open challenges for the future, including achieving stable sample holders for ultralow temperature (below 10K) atomic-scale spatial resolution, stable spectrometers that enable meV energy resolution, and high-resolution, dynamic mapping of magnetic and spin fields. With atomic manipulation and ultrafast characterization enabled by EM, quantum materials will be poised to integrate into many of the sustainable and energy-efficient technologies needed for the 21st century.