SESAM: exploring the frontiers of electron microscopy

We report on the sub-electron-volt-sub-angstrom microscope (SESAM), a high-resolution 200-kV FEG-TEM equipped with a monochromator and an in-column MANDOLINE filter. We report on recent results obtained with this instrument, demonstrating its performance (e.g., 87-meV energy resolution at 10-s exposure time, or a transmissivity of the energy filter of T1 ev = 11,000 nm2). New opportunities to do unique experiments that may advance the frontiers of microscopy in areas such as energy-filtered TEM, spectroscopy, energy-filtered electron diffraction and spectroscopic profiling are also discussed.

EFTEM spectrum imaging at high-energy resolution

This paper deals with the application of high-energy resolution EFTEM image series and the corrections needed for reliable data interpretation. The detail of spectral information gained from an image series is largely determined by the intrinsic energy resolution. In this work we show that energy resolution values of as low as 0.8 eV in spectra extracted from EFTEM image series can be obtained with a small energy-selecting slit. At this resolution level aberrations of the energy filter, in particular the non-isochromaticity, can no longer be neglected. We show that the four most prominent factors for EFTEM image series data correction--spatial drift, non-isochromaticity, energy drift and image distortion--must not be treated independently but have to be corrected in unison. We present an efficient algorithm for this correction, and demonstrate the applied correction for the case of a GaN/AlN multilayer sample.

Relativistic calculations of intensity distributions in elemental maps using contrast transfer functions

The interpretation of highly resolved elemental maps is not straightforward: one has to consider the quantum mechanical nature of the scattering process as well as the influence of the microscope. Existing calculations of the contrast in elemental maps are based on a non-relativistic approach, while in most of the currently installed electron microscopes, the electrons penetrate the specimen with relativistic energies >/= 200 keV. Therefore, we have recalculated the intensity distribution in elemental maps based on a fully relativistic theory. Using the concept of contrast transfer functions, the simulations account for lens aberrations as well as the defocus. Surprisingly, the results exhibit considerable deviations between the relativistic and non-relativistic calculations even in the region of low acceleration voltages such as 100 kV. These differences increase with increasing acceleration voltage and are strongly dependent on aperture and energy loss. Quantitative simulations and evaluations of highly resolved elemental maps should therefore make use of a fully relativistic theory.