Defining HRTEM Resolution: Why Young?s Fringes Don?t Determine Resolution

Conference · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 2009

OSTI ID:1362177

O'Keefe, Dr. Michael ^[1]; Allard, Jr, Lawrence Frederick ^[2]; Blom, Dr. Douglas ^[3]

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1. OKCS Co.
2. ORNL
3. University of South Carolina, Columbia

Aberration correction of the objective lens in the high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) can extend microscope resolution to the linear information limit [1], the upper bound of a HRTEM s structural resolution. HRTEM resolution is demonstrated canonically in real space when two image peaks (representing atoms) are distinguishable from a single peak just as Rayleigh's criterion establishes when two sources of light (stars) are distinguishable from a single source [2]. The A-OK set of specimens can be employed to measure HRTEM resolutions from 1.6 to 0.2 unequivocally in real space [3] and to characterize image resolution quality [4]. Such real-space measurements have established sub- ngstr m resolutions of 0.78 [5-6] and 0.63 [7]. Despite the straightforward approach of resolution quantification in real space, resolution is often gauged using image intensity spectrum measurements in reciprocal space, probably because resolution |d| requires the corresponding spatial frequency 1/|d| in the TEM image intensity spectrum; however, the mere presence of a 1/|d| frequency does not establish a resolution of |d| [8].

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: EE USDOE - Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EE)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1362177
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

Scherzer resolution
Young's fringes
electron microscopy
information limit
non-linear imaging