Low-Cost, Atmospheric-Pressure Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy

Solid materials in subambient gaseous environments have been imaged using in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM), for example to study dynamic effects: carbon nanotube growth, nanoparticle changes during redox reactions, and phase transitions in nanoscale systems. In these studies the vacuum level in the specimen region of the electron microscope was increased to pressures of up to 10 mbar using pump-limiting apertures that separated the specimen region from the rest of the high-vacuum electron column, but it has not been possible to achieve the higher pressures that are desirable for catalysis research. TEM imaging at atmospheric pressure and at elevated temperature was achieved with 0.2-nm resolution by enclosing a gaseous environment several micrometers thick between ultra-thin, electron transparent silicon nitride windows. Although Ångström-level resolution in situ TEM has been demonstrated with aberration-corrected systems, the key difficulty with TEM imaging is its dependence on phase contrast, which requires ultra-thin specimens, limiting the choice of experiments.