The influence of fast secondary electrons on the aromatic structure of polystyrene

Diffusion distribution model for damage mitigation in scanning transmission electron microscopy

Despite the widespread use of Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM) for observing the structure of materials at the atomic scale, a detailed understanding of some relevant electron beam damage mechanisms is limited. Recent reports suggest that certain types of damage can be modelled as a diffusion process and that the accumulation effects of this process must be kept low in order to reduce damage. We therefore develop an explicit mathematical formulation of spatiotemporal diffusion processes in STEM that take into account both instrument and sample parameters. Furthermore, our framework can aid the design of Diffusion Controlled Sampling (DCS) strategies using optimally selected probe positions in STEM, that constrain the cumulative diffusion distribution. Numerical simulations highlight the variability of the cumulative diffusion distribution for different experimental STEM configurations. These analytical and numerical frameworks can subsequently be used for careful design of 2- and 4-dimensional STEM experiments where beam damage is minimised.

Identifying and imaging polymer functionality at high spatial resolution with core-loss EELS

Electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) is a proven tool for probing materials chemistry at high spatial resolution. Core-loss EELS fine structure should allow measurement of local polymer chemistry. For organic materials, sensitivity to radiolysis is expected to limit the resolution achievable with EELS: but core-loss EELS has proven difficult at any resolution, yielding inconsistent spectra that compare unfavorably with theoretically analogous x-ray absorption spectra. Many of the previously identified shortcomings should not be limiting factors on modern equipment. This study establishes that EELS can generate identifiable carbon K-edge spectra for a range of common polymer types and chemistry, and demonstrates fine structure features matching prior x-ray absorption spectra. EELS fine structure features broaden intuitively with the instrument's energy resolution, and beam-induced features are readily differentiated by collecting spectra at a series of doses. The results are demonstrated with spectrum images of a model polymer blend, and used to estimate practical pixel sizes that can be used for mapping core-loss EELS as a function of electron dose.

100th Anniversary of Macromolecular Science Viewpoint: Polymeric Materials by In Situ Liquid-Phase Transmission Electron Microscopy

A century ago, Hermann Staudinger proposed the macromolecular theory of polymers, and now, as we enter the second century of polymer science, we face a different set of opportunities and challenges for the development of functional soft matter. Indeed, many fundamental questions remain open, relating to physical structures and mechanisms of phase transformations at the molecular and nanoscale. In this Viewpoint, we describe efforts to develop a dynamic, in situ microscopy tool suited to the study of polymeric materials at the nanoscale that allows for direct observation of discrete structures and processes in solution, as a complement to light, neutron, and X-ray scattering methods. Liquid-phase transmission electron microscopy (LPTEM) is a nascent in situ imaging technique for characterizing and examining solvated nanomaterials in real time. Though still under development, LPTEM has been shown to be capable of several modes of imaging: (1) imaging static solvated materials analogous to cryo-TEM, (2) videography of nanomaterials in motion, (3) observing solutions or nanomaterials undergoing physical and chemical transformations, including synthesis, assembly, and phase transitions, and (4) observing electron beam-induced chemical-materials processes. Herein, we describe opportunities and limitations of LPTEM for polymer science. We review the basic experimental platform of LPTEM and describe the origin of electron beam effects that go hand in hand with the imaging process. These electron beam effects cause perturbation and damage to the sample and solvent that can manifest as artefacts in images and videos. We describe sample-specific experimental guidelines and outline approaches to mitigate, characterize, and quantify beam damaging effects. Altogether, we seek to provide an overview of this nascent field in the context of its potential to contribute to the advancement of polymer science.

Pushing the limits of high-resolution polymer microscopy using antioxidants

High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) has been transformative to the field of polymer science, enabling the direct imaging of molecular structures. Although some materials have remarkable stability under electron beams, most HRTEM studies are limited by the electron dose the sample can handle. Beam damage of conjugated polymers is not yet fully understood, but it has been suggested that the diffusion of secondary reacting species may play a role. As such, we examine the effect of the addition of antioxidants to a series of solution-processable conjugated polymers as an approach to mitigating beam damage. Characterizing the effects of beam damage by calculating critical dose DC values from the decay of electron diffraction peaks shows that beam damage of conjugated polymers in the TEM can be minimized by using antioxidants at room temperature, even if the antioxidant does not alter or incorporate into polymer crystals. As a consequence, the addition of antioxidants pushes the resolution limit of polymer microscopy, enabling imaging of a 3.6 Å lattice spacing in poly[(5,6-difluoro-2,1,3-benzothiadiazol-4,7-diyl)-alt-(3,3″'-di(2-octyldodecyl)-2,2';5',2″;5″,2″'-quaterthiophene-5,5″'-diyl)] (PffBT4T-2OD).

Electron energy loss spectroscopy for polymers: a review

Electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) allows imaging as well as extraction of spatially resolved chemical information and this review presents how EELS can be ap plied to polymeric systems.

Damage-free vibrational spectroscopy of biological materials in the electron microscope

Vibrational spectroscopy in the electron microscope would be transformative in the study of biological samples, provided that radiation damage could be prevented. However, electron beams typically create high-energy excitations that severely accelerate sample degradation. Here this major difficulty is overcome using an ‘aloof' electron beam, positioned tens of nanometres away from the sample: high-energy excitations are suppressed, while vibrational modes of energies <1 eV can be ‘safely' investigated. To demonstrate the potential of aloof spectroscopy, we record electron energy loss spectra from biogenic guanine crystals in their native state, resolving their characteristic C–H, N–H and C=O vibrational signatures with no observable radiation damage. The technique opens up the possibility of non-damaging compositional analyses of organic functional groups, including non-crystalline biological materials, at a spatial resolution of ∼10 nm, simultaneously combined with imaging in the electron microscope.

Use of electron microscopy to determine morphology, or find where functionally significant biomolecules are located with high spatial resolution is of great interest. Here, Rez, Cohen et al. use aloof electron beam vibrational spectroscopy to probe different bonds in biological samples with no significant radiation damage.

Control of radiation damage in the TEM

The problem of electron-beam damage in the transmission electron microscope is reviewed, with an emphasis on radiolysis processes in soft materials and organic specimens. Factors that determine the dose-limited resolution are identified for three different operational modes: bright-field scattering-contrast, phase-contrast and dark-field microscopy. Methods of reducing radiation damage are discussed, including low-dose techniques, cooling or encapsulating the specimen, and the choice of imaging mode, incident-beam diameter and incident-electron energy. Further experiments are suggested as a means of obtaining a better understanding and control of electron-beam damage.

Direct fabrication of nanoscale bio-adhesive patterns by electron beam surface modification of plasma polymerized poly ethylene oxide-like coatings

In this study we present a method to produce nanostructured surfaces containing bio-adhesive features inside a non bio-adhesive matrix. The strategy is based on the combination of low pressure plasma polymerization and electron beam lithography processes and allows the fabrication of the structured materials in just two steps without using any solvents. In a first step, a thin protein-and-cell-repelling coating (∼10 nm) is obtained by plasma polymerization of Di-glyme. Then, in a second step, the bio-adhesive properties of the layer are tuned by monitoring the concentration of ether bonds of the film by irradiating it locally by different irradiation doses with an electron beam. Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy analysis have been used to characterize the produced surfaces. Experiments with a model protein (bovine serum albumin) on the patterned surfaces show preferential adhesion to the irradiated regions, indicating the potential of this simple technique for the development of highly compacted sensitive bio-sensing devices.

Imaging of radiation-sensitive samples in transmission electron microscopes equipped with Zernike phase plates

We have optimized a bright-field transmission electron microscope for imaging of high-resolution radiation-sensitive materials by calculating the imaging dose n(0) needed to obtain a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)=5. Installing a Zernike phase plate (ZP) decreases the dose needed to detect single atoms by as much as a factor of two at 300 kV. For imaging larger objects, such as Gaussian objects with full-width at half-maximum larger than 0.15 nm, ZP appears more efficient in reducing the imaging dose than correcting for spherical aberration. The imaging dose n(0) does not decrease with extending of chromatic resolution limit by reducing chromatic aberration, using high accelerating potential (U(0)=300 kV), because the image contrast increases slower than the reciprocal of detection radius. However, reducing chromatic aberration would allow accelerating potential to be reduced leading to imaging doses below 10 e(-)/A(2) for a single iodine atom when a CS-corrector and a ZP are used together. Our simulations indicate that, in addition to microscope hardware, optimization is heavily dependent on the nature of the specimen under investigation.

Bright-field TEM imaging of single molecules: Dream or near future?

We examine the suitability of spherical aberration (C(S))-corrected (CS) and uncorrected (UC) transmission electron microscopes (TEM) for conventional bright-field imaging of radiation-sensitive materials. We have chosen an individual molecule suspended in vacuum as a hypothetical example of a well-defined radiation-sensitive sample. We find that for this particular sample, CS instruments provide about 30% improvement over an UC instrument in terms of signal/noise ratio per unit electron dose at 300kV. The lowest imaging doses can be achieved in CS instruments equipped with high-brightness electron source operated at low incident electron energies. Our calculations suggest that it may be possible to image individual, iodine- or bromine-substituted organic molecules in bright-field mode, at doses lower than the accepted values for radiation damage of aromatic molecules.

Water mapping in hydrated soft materials

We present a method based on spatially resolved electron energy-loss spectroscopy in the cryo-STEM to map the spatial distribution of water in frozen-hydrated polymers. The spatial resolution is limited by the dose constraints imposed by radiation damage, and to stay within these constraints, the use of fine electron-probe sizes comes at the cost of reduced counts in the energy-loss spectra. Thus, at the resolution limit, the detection of isolated water-rich pixels or the identification of minor variations in water content across the specimen is complicated because one must distinguish significant fluctuations from noise. Here we develop a criterion with which to guide such a distinction. We characterize the intrinsic noise associated with spectral measurements under given illumination and acquisition conditions. We then use that noise in combination with scatter diagrams to threshold spectrum images and objectively identify statistically significant compositional fluctuations. We illustrate these ideas using a simulated spectrum dataset for a hypothetical blend of hydrophilic and hydrophobic homopolymers. We show that while a direct inspection of the water map may not allow any meaningful conclusions to be drawn, after applying the thresholding approach we can clearly identify the regions of the specimen that are rich in water. We also experimentally study a model blend system comprised of hydrophilic poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) dispersed in a hydrophobic matrix of poly(styrene) (PS). By MLS fitting using damaged and undamaged PVP reference spectra, we determine that the critical dose characteristic of dry PVP is approximately 8000 e/nm2 using 200 keV incident electrons. Irradiating frozen-hydrated PVP gives rise to noticeable hydrogen evolution at doses of approximately 1500 e/nm2. To stay within this constraint we use doses of 400 e/nm2 and a pixel spacing in the spectrum imaging of 100 nm. In order to quantitatively map the water, PVP, and PS compositions, we measure their total inelastic scattering cross-sections. Direct inspection of the composition maps reveals the presence of large water-rich domains of the order of approximately 1 microm and the scatter-diagram thresholding approach identifies small water-rich domains one pixel in size.

Protein surface patterning using nanoscale PEG hydrogels

We have used focused electron-beam cross-linking to create nanosized hydrogels and thus present a new method with which to bring the attractive biocompatibility associated with macroscopic hydrogels into the submicron length-scale regime. Using amine-terminated poly(ethylene glycol) thin films on silicon substrates, we generate nanohydrogels with lateral dimensions of order 200 nm which can swell by a factor of at least five, depending on the radiative dose. With the focused electron beam, high-density arrays of such nanohydrogels can be flexibly patterned onto silicon surfaces. Significantly, the amine groups remain functional after e-beam exposure, and we show that they can be used to covalently bind proteins and other molecules. We use bovine serum albumin to amplify the number of amine groups, and we further demonstrate that different proteins can be covalently bound to different hydrogel pads on the same substrate to create multifunctional surfaces useful in emerging bio/proteomic and sensor technologies.

Radiation damage in the TEM and SEM

We review the various ways in which an electron beam can adversely affect an organic or inorganic sample during examination in an electron microscope. The effects considered are: heating, electrostatic charging, ionization damage (radiolysis), displacement damage, sputtering and hydrocarbon contamination. In each case, strategies to minimise the damage are identified. In the light of recent experimental evidence, we re-examine two common assumptions: that the amount of radiation damage is proportional to the electron dose and is independent of beam diameter; and that the extent of the damage is proportional to the amount of energy deposited in the specimen.