Direct imaging of electron density with a scanning transmission electron microscope

Dyck, Ondrej; Almutlaq, Jawaher; Lingerfelt, David; Swett, Jacob L.; Oxley, Mark P.; Huang, Bevin; Lupini, Andrew R.; Englund, Dirk; Jesse, Stephen

doi:10.1038/s41467-023-42256-9

Title: Direct imaging of electron density with a scanning transmission electron microscope

Journal Article · 20 November 2023 · Nature Communications

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42256-9 · OSTI ID:2217254

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
Arizona State Univ., Tempe, AZ (United States)

Recent studies of secondary electron (SE) emission in scanning transmission electron microscopes suggest that material’s properties such as electrical conductivity, connectivity, and work function can be probed with atomic scale resolution using a technique known as secondary electron e-beam-induced current (SEEBIC). Here, we apply the SEEBIC imaging technique to a stacked 2D heterostructure device to reveal the spatially resolved electron density of an encapsulated WSe₂ layer. We find that the double Se lattice site shows higher emission than the W site, which is at odds with first-principles modelling of valence ionization of an isolated WSe₂ cluster. These results illustrate that atomic level SEEBIC contrast within a single material is possible and that an enhanced understanding of atomic scale SE emission is required to account for the observed contrast. In turn, this suggests that, in the future, subtle information about interlayer bonding and the effect on electron orbitals could be directly revealed with this technique.

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Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division (MSE); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF); US Army Research Office (ARO); USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725; W911NF-18-1-043

OSTI ID:: 2217254

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 2376403

Journal Information:: Nature Communications, Vol. 14, Issue 1; ISSN 2041-1723

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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