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Title: Low Repetition-Rate, High-Resolution Femtosecond Transmission Electron Microscopy

Journal Article · · Journal of Chemical Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0128109· OSTI ID:1893571

Spatial and energy resolutions of state-of-the-art transmission electron microscopes (TEMs) have surpassed 50 pm and 5 meV. However, with respect to the time domain, even the fastest detectors combined with the brightest sources may only be able to reach the microsecond timescale. Thus, conventional methods are incapable of resolving myriad fundamental ultrafast (i.e., attosecond to picosecond) atomic-scale dynamics. The successful demonstration of femtosecond (fs) laser-based (LB) ultrafast transmission electron microscopy (UEM) nearly 20 years ago provided a means to span this nearly 10-order-of-magnitude temporal gap. While nanometer-picosecond UEM studies of dynamics are now well established, ultrafast Å-scale imaging has gone largely unrealized. Further, while instrument development has rightly been an emphasis, and while new modalities and uses of pulsed-beam TEM continue to emerge, the overall chemical and materials application space has been only modestly explored to date. In this Perspectives article, we argue that these apparent shortfalls can be attributed to a simple lack of data and detail. We speculate that present work and continued growth of the field will ultimately lead to the realization that Å-scale fs dynamics can indeed be imaged with minimally modified UEM instrumentation and with repetition rates (frep) below - and perhaps even well below - 1 MHz. We further argue that use of low frep, whether for LB UEM or for chopped/bunched beams, significantly expands the accessible application space. Furthermore, this calls for systematically establishing modality-specific limits so that especially promising technologies can be pursued, thus ultimately facilitating broader adoption as individual instrument capabilities expand.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division; National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0018204; DMR-1654318; DGE-1839286; DMR-2011401
OSTI ID:
1893571
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1897548
Journal Information:
Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 157, Issue 18; ISSN 0021-9606
Publisher:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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