Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 22 February 2008:
Vol. 319. no. 5866, pp. 1073 - 1076
DOI: 10.1126/science.1148820
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Atomic-Scale Chemical Imaging of Composition and Bonding by Aberration-Corrected Microscopy

D. A. Muller,1,2* L. Fitting Kourkoutis,1 M. Murfitt,3 J. H. Song,4,5 H. Y. Hwang,5,6 J. Silcox,1,2 N. Dellby,3 O. L. Krivanek3

Using a fifth-order aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope, which provides a factor of 100 increase in signal over an uncorrected instrument, we demonstrated two-dimensional elemental and valence-sensitive imaging at atomic resolution by means of electron energy-loss spectroscopy, with acquisition times of well under a minute (for a 4096-pixel image). Applying this method to the study of a La0.7Sr0.3MnO3/SrTiO3 multilayer, we found an asymmetry between the chemical intermixing on the manganese-titanium and lanthanum-strontium sublattices. The measured changes in the titanium bonding as the local environment changed allowed us to distinguish chemical interdiffusion from imaging artifacts.

1 Applied and Engineering Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
2 Kavli Institute at Cornell, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
3 Nion Co., Kirkland, WA 98033, USA.
4 Department of Physics, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 305-764, Korea.
5 Department of Advanced Materials Science, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8561, Japan.
6 Japan Science and Technology Agency, Kawaguchi 332-0012, Japan.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: dm24{at}cornell.edu

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
STEM imaging of 47-pm-separated atomic columns by a spherical aberration-corrected electron microscope with a 300-kV cold field emission gun.
H. Sawada, Y. Tanishiro, N. Ohashi, T. Tomita, F. Hosokawa, T. Kaneyama, Y. Kondo, and K. Takayanagi (2009)
J. Electron Microsc. (Tokyo) 58, 357-361
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
4D Nanoscale Diffraction Observed by Convergent-Beam Ultrafast Electron Microscopy.
A. Yurtsever and A. H. Zewail (2009)
Science 326, 708-712
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
High-energy-resolution monochromator for aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy/electron energy-loss spectroscopy.
O. L. Krivanek, J. P. Ursin, N. J. Bacon, G. J. Corbin, N. Dellby, P. Hrncirik, M. F. Murfitt, C. S. Own, and Z. S. Szilagyi (2009)
Phil Trans R Soc A 367, 3683-3697
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy: from atomic imaging and analysis to solving energy problems.
S. J. Pennycook, M. F. Chisholm, A. R. Lupini, M. Varela, A. Y. Borisevich, M. P. Oxley, W. D. Luo, K. van Benthem, S.-H. Oh, D. L. Sales, et al. (2009)
Phil Trans R Soc A 367, 3709-3733
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Multi-dimensional and multi-signal approaches in scanning transmission electron microscopes.
C. Colliex, N. Brun, A. Gloter, D. Imhoff, M. Kociak, K. March, C. Mory, O. Stephan, M. Tence, and M. Walls (2009)
Phil Trans R Soc A 367, 3845-3858
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Dynamics of Chemical Bonding Mapped by Energy-Resolved 4D Electron Microscopy.
F. Carbone, O.-H. Kwon, and A. H. Zewail (2009)
Science 325, 181-184
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Atomic-resolution spectroscopic imaging: past, present and future.
S. J. Pennycook, M. Varela, A. R. Lupini, M. P. Oxley, and M. F. Chisholm (2009)
J. Electron Microsc. (Tokyo) 58, 87-97
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Review of recent advances in spectrum imaging and its extension to reciprocal space.
A. Maigne and R. D. Twesten (2009)
J. Electron Microsc. (Tokyo) 58, 99-109
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
4D Imaging of Transient Structures and Morphologies in Ultrafast Electron Microscopy.
B. Barwick, H. S. Park, O.-H. Kwon, J. S. Baskin, and A. H. Zewail (2008)
Science 322, 1227-1231
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Studying Atomic Structures by Aberration-Corrected Transmission Electron Microscopy.
K. W. Urban (2008)
Science 321, 506-510
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)