We developed a 1-MV field-emission transmission electron microscope to help in further improving electron holography, Lorentz microscopy, and high-resolution electron microscopy. This microscope is characterized by an electron beam having the highest brightness ever, 2×1010 A/cm2, and by the highest lattice-resolution below 0.5 Å. These two features were attained by minimizing the mechanical vibration of the whole column and by improving the stability of both the electron beam and the high voltage. If the tiny electron source located at the top of the 7-m-high microscope moves by as little as a fraction of the source size, 50 Å in diameter relative to the column, due to mechanical vibration or beam deflection by the AC magnetic fields, the beam brightness will be greatly degraded. If the ripples ΔE of the high-voltage E exceed ΔE/E = 5 × 10−7 /min, then the inherent monochromatic feature of the beam is deteriorated by the increase in energy spread.

Through the preliminary experiments testing the vibration and magnetic shielding of the acceleration tube as well as the high stability of the high voltage, and through the numerical simulations on the vibration modes of the whole column, we were led to the conclusion that the microscope must be separated into three parts that are connected by cables.