To achieve its improved resolution, the team developed a different method of focusing the electron beam. This is a unique synergy and, together, we were able to show how the resolution of the technique can be improved drastically,” said Li Hua Yu, NSLS-II senior accelerator physicist and co-author of the study. And the CMPMS group has the sample expertise and, of course, drives the application needs. The ATF group brought the expertise and capabilities of the electron gun and laser technologies – both of which were needed to create the electron beam in the first place.
#LENS DIFFRACTION HOW TO#
At NSLS-II, we have expertise on how to handle the electron beam. “This advance would not have been possible without the combination of all our expertise across Brookhaven Lab. The Brookhaven Lab team consisted of electron beam experts from the NSLS-II, electron accelerator experts from ATF, and materials science experts from the condensed matter physics & materials science (CMPMS) department. The advantage of using electrons to image this inner structure of materials is that the so called diffraction limit of electrons is very low, which means scientists can resolve smaller details in the structure compared to other diffraction methods.Ī diverse team of researchers was needed to improve such a complex research method. The electrons create a so-called diffraction pattern, which can be translated into the structural makeup of the materials at the nanoscale. In the left column the rings of the pattern are sharper, rounder and turn red, which means that the overall resolution of the measurement is higher.Įvery electron diffraction setup uses an electron beam that is focused on the sample so that the electrons bounce off the atoms in the sample and travel further to the detector behind the sample.
The left column shows diffraction patterns of the sample using the newly developed quadrupoles, while the right column shows diffraction patterns without the new lens system. The colorful images are four different electron diffraction measurements at ATF. By using our new setup, we were able to overcome the space charge effect and obtain diffraction data that is three times brighter and two times sharper it’s a major leap in resolution.” However, it is much more challenging to focus the charged electrons to a near-parallel pencil-like beam at the sample than it would be with light, because electrons are negatively charged and therefore repulse one another. This is universal for all imaging techniques, including light microscopy and x-ray imaging. “The resolution mainly depends on the properties of light – or in our case – of the electron beam. “We implemented our new focusing system for electron beams and demonstrated that we can improve the resolution significantly when compared to the conventional solenoid technique,” said Xi Yang, author of the study and an accelerator physicist at the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II), a DOE Office of Science User Facility at Brookhaven Lab. This new and improved version of electron diffraction offers a stepping stone for improving various electron beam-related research techniques and existing instrumentation. Many interesting changes in materials happen extremely quickly and in small spaces, so improved research techniques are necessary to study them for future applications.
The researchers published their findings in Scientific Reports, an open-access journal by Nature Research.Īdvancing a research technique such as ultra-fast electron diffraction will help future generations of materials scientists to investigate materials and chemical reactions with new precision. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed a new and improved version of electron diffraction at Brookhaven’s Accelerator Test Facility (ATF)-a DOE Office of Science User Facility that offers advanced and unique experimental instrumentation for studying particle acceleration to researchers from all around the world. Now, a group of researchers from the U.S. Advanced research techniques, such as ultra-fast electron diffraction imaging can reveal that information. To design and improve energy storage materials, smart devices, and many more technologies, researchers need to understand their hidden structure and chemistry.
Mikhail Fedurin, Timur Shaftan, Victor Smalyuk, Xi Yang, Junjie Li, Lewis Doom, Lihua Yu, and Yimei Zhu are the Brookhaven team of scientists that realized and demonstrated the new lens system for as ultra-fast electron diffraction imaging.
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