The NCF users have access to a state-of-the-art aberration-corrected Transmission Electron Microscope JEOL NEOARM 200CF that is capable of TEM and STEM imaging at exceptionally high resolution, including single atom imaging.

 

The ultrahigh resolution (UHR) pole piece provides single-atom imaging capabilities in STEM mode with a resolution of 71 pm. The aberration-corrected STEM mode is calibrated at 200 kV, 80 kV, and 40 kV, providing exceptional versatility for imaging a wide range of different materials including beam-sensitive organic materials. In TEM mode the point-to-point resolution is 0.19 nm. 

The NEOARM is equipped with two JEOL SDD 100 mm² EDS detectors for high-speed X-ray analysis and mapping down to the atomic scale. The EDXS detectors are controlled by JEOL EDXS software but can also be controlled using Oxford Instruments AZtec EDS software system with their complete suite of analytical packages for full spectral EDXS mapping including real-time X-ray imaging and full background corrected quantified EDSX maps.

The instrument also has tomographic imaging sample holders, which enable tomographic imaging in STEM and EDXS modes of thin samples and small particles enabling 3D reconstructions of complex fine-grained materials. We have also recently been successful in obtaining funding from the NASA Planetary Major Equipment and Facilities program to acquire a Gatan Continuum ER image filter (GIF)/electron energy loss spectrometer for the NEOARM. This instrument enables spectroscopic studies of oxidation states in metals at the nanoscale, single-atom chemical mapping, and bonding characteristics in a wide range of materials. The EELS system allows us to take advantage of the excellent energy resolution of the cold FEG on the NEOARM for spectral imaging and will also enable so-called ‘soft’ EELS of sensitive biological materials in low kV mode (40 kV).