TEM Z-contrast imaging with wide-angle hollow-cone illumination
High resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) images with contrast sensitive to atomic number (Z-contrast) have been obtained with the use of a high-angle annular detector. The equivalent conventional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) dark-field mode reciprocally related to Z-contrast STEM is wide-angle hollow-cone illumination with an on-axis objective aperture. There are two ways to obtain hollow cone illumination; with an annular condenser aperture or by conically scanning the beam tilt coils. As in the case of STEM Z-contrast imaging, resolution with hollow-cone illumination should theoretically be higher than for phase contrast imaging in the same instrument.Philips CM30/STEM, CM12/STEM, and EM400T/FEG/STEM instruments have been used to investigate this imaging technique. The conical illumination dark-field mode is standard on the CM series and was implemented with a hybrid diffraction unit on the EM400. Commercial (SPI Supplies #1780) copper annular apertures with inner and outer diameters of 600 and 900 μm, respectively, spot welded to suitable supports for use as condenser apertures, resulted in cone angles too small to give good Z-contrast in the microprobe mode, because there is still a large diffraction contrast contribution.