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Quantitative High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy of Single Atoms

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 December 2011

Björn Gamm ,
Holger Blank ,
Radian Popescu ,
Reinhard Schneider ,
André Beyer ,
Armin Gölzhäuser  and
Dagmar Gerthsen
Björn Gamm*
Affiliation:
Laboratorium für Elektronenmikroskopie, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), 76128 Karlsruhe, Germany
Holger Blank
Affiliation:
Laboratorium für Elektronenmikroskopie, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), 76128 Karlsruhe, Germany
Radian Popescu
Affiliation:
Laboratorium für Elektronenmikroskopie, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), 76128 Karlsruhe, Germany
Reinhard Schneider
Affiliation:
Laboratorium für Elektronenmikroskopie, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), 76128 Karlsruhe, Germany
André Beyer
Affiliation:
Physik Supramolekularer Systeme, Universität Bielefeld, 33501 Bielefeld, Germany
Armin Gölzhäuser
Affiliation:
Physik Supramolekularer Systeme, Universität Bielefeld, 33501 Bielefeld, Germany
Dagmar Gerthsen
Affiliation:
Laboratorium für Elektronenmikroskopie, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), 76128 Karlsruhe, Germany
*
Corresponding author. E-mail: gamm@kit.edu
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Abstract

Single atoms can be considered as the most basic objects for electron microscopy to test the microscope performance and basic concepts for modeling image contrast. In this work high-resolution transmission electron microscopy was applied to image single platinum, molybdenum, and titanium atoms in an aberration-corrected transmission electron microscope. The atoms are deposited on a self-assembled monolayer substrate that induces only negligible contrast. Single-atom contrast simulations were performed on the basis of Weickenmeier-Kohl and Doyle-Turner form factors. Experimental and simulated image intensities are in quantitative agreement on an absolute intensity scale, which is provided by the vacuum image intensity. This demonstrates that direct testing of basic properties such as form factors becomes feasible.

Keywords

single atomsquantitative HRTEMscattering factorsabsolute intensity scale
Type
Techniques Development
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 18 , Issue 1 , February 2012 , pp. 212 - 217
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America 2012

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References

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