We report on the automatic alignment of a transmission electron microscope equipped with an orbital angular momentum sorter using a convolutional neural network. The neural network is able to control all relevant parameters of both the electron-optical setup of the microscope and the external voltage source of the sorter without input from the user. It can compensate for mechanical and optical misalignments of the sorter, in order to optimize its spectral resolution. The alignment is completed over a few frames and can be kept stable by making use of the fast fitting time of the neural network.

Cryo-electron microscopy, widely used for high-resolution protein structure determination, does not require staining. Yet negative staining with heavy metal salts such as uranyl acetate has been in persistent demand since the 1950s due to its image contrasting capabilities at room temperature with a common electron microscope. However, uranium compounds are nuclear fuel materials and are tightly controlled worldwide. Acetates of each lanthanoid series elements except promethium are prepared at the same concentration (2%(w/v)) and used as a model on horse spleen ferritin for electron microscopic analysis to systematically evaluate their effectiveness as electron staining reagents for the protein. Analysis shows that the triacetates of samarium and europium, followed by gadolinium and erbium, and then lanthanum and neodymium could function as electron staining reagents. Thulium-triacetate precipitates thin plate-like crystals and may be used for selecting better imaging fields. Of the 14 lanthanoid-triacetates examined, about half are viable alternatives to uranyl acetate as an electron staining reagent for ferritin, and there appears an optimal range in ionic sizes for promising lanthanoids. This is the first systematic investigation of lanthanoid transition heavy metal triacetates from the viewpoint of lanthanoid contraction, using density distribution histograms of electron micrographs as an indicator for comparison with uranyl acetate.

The properties and the shape memory effect depend, among other things, on chemical composition, as well as the method of shape memory alloy (SMA) production. One of the manufacturing methods that leads to the amorphous/nanocrystalline SMA is high-energy ball milling combined with annealing. Using this technique, an SMA memory alloy, with the nominal chemical composition of Ni25Ti50Cu25, was produced from commercial elemental powders (purity −99.7%). The structure and morphology were characterized (at the various stages of its production) by the use of X-ray diffraction, as well as electron microscopy (both scanning and transmission). Choosing the appropriate grinding time made it possible to produce an NiTiCu alloy with a different crystallite size. Its average size changed from 6.5 nm (after 50 h) to about 2 nm (100 h). Increasing the grinding time up to 140 h resulted in the formation of areas that showed the B19 martensite and the Ti2(Ni,Cu) phase with the average crystallite size of about 6 nm (as milled). After crystallization, the average size increased to 11 nm.

This study presents the oocyte development of Poecilimon ataturki Ünal, 1999 (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae) with histology, morphology, and histochemistry by using a stereomicroscope, a light microscope, a scanning electron microscope, and a transmission electron microscope. The ovary in this species is a panoistic type which contains many ovarioles which consist of terminal filament, germarium, and vitellarium. Germarium is the region that has undifferentiated cells which generate the oocytes and follicular cells. In the vitellarium region, yolk granules start to cover the whole oocyte. In histochemical studies, to determine the content of the yolk granules, proteins, and carbohydrates in oocytes were treated with a bromophenol blue (BPB) method, a mercury bromophenol blue (mBPB) method, and a periodic acid Schiff (PAS) method, respectively. As a result of these methods, the yolk granules gave positive results in ovariole sections treated with the PAS and the BPB, while the mBPB staining was negative.

Different aspects of electron-beam damage are summarized, together with some quantitative evaluation. TEM and STEM are compared in terms of information-to-damage ratio. Electron-beam fabrication is briefly considered in terms of resolution and writing speed.

The ability to prepare multiple cross-section transmission electron microscope (XTEM) samples from one XTEM sample of specific sub-10 nm features was demonstrated. Sub-10 nm diameter Si nanowire (NW) devices were initially cross-sectioned using a dual-beam focused ion beam system in a direction running parallel to the device channel. From this XTEM sample, both low- and high-resolution transmission electron microscope (TEM) images were obtained from six separate, specific site Si NW devices. The XTEM sample was then re-sectioned in four separate locations in a direction perpendicular to the device channel: 90° from the original XTEM sample direction. Three of the four XTEM samples were successfully sectioned in the gate region of the device. From these three samples, low- and high-resolution TEM images of the Si NW were taken and measurements of the NW diameters were obtained. This technique demonstrated the ability to obtain high-resolution TEM images in directions 90° from one another of multiple, specific sub-10 nm features that were spaced 1.1 μm apart.

Cation exchange capacity (CEC) characterizes the number of fixed negative charges of plant cell walls and is an important parameter in studies dealing with the uptake of ions into plant tissues, especially in roots. Conventional methods of CEC determination use bulk tissue, the results are the mean of many cells, and differences in the CEC of different tissue types are masked. Energy-dispersive microanalysis (EDX) in the transmission electron microscope allows CEC determinations on much finer scales. Shoot and fine root tissue of Picea abies was acid washed to remove exchangeable cations. Tissue blocks or semithin tissue sections were loaded with 0.2 mM CaCl2, AlCl3, or Pb(NO3)2 at pH 4.0. The amount of Ca, Al, or Pb adsorbed to the exchange sites of cell walls was determined by EDX. The CEC of cell walls of different tissue types was highly different, ranging in shoot tissues from 0 to 856 mM Ca and 5.8 to 1463 mM Al (block loading) or 4.3 to 1116 mM Ca and 0 to 2830 mM Al (section loading). In root tissue, Pb adsorption to semithin sections yielded CEC values between 29.1 and 954 mM Pb. In most P. abies shoot tissues, the binding capacity was clearly higher for Al than for Ca.

It is shown that the ultimate resolution is not limited by the bandwidth of the microscope but by the bandwidth (i.e., the scattering power) of the object. In the case of a crystal oriented along a zone axis, the scattering is enhanced by the channeling of the electrons. However, if the object is aperiodic along the beam direction, the bandwidth is much more reduced. A particular challenge are the amorphous objects. For amorphous materials, the natural bandwidth is that of the single atom and of the order of 1 Å−1, which can be reached with the present generation of medium voltage microscopes without aberration correctors. A clear distinction is made between resolving a structure and refining, that is, between resolution and precision. In the case of an amorphous structure, the natural bandwidth also puts a limit on the number of atom coordinates that can be refined quantitatively. As a consequence, amorphous structures cannot be determined from one projection, but only by using atomic resolution tomography. Finally a theory of experiment design is presented that can be used to predict the optimal experimental setting or the best instrumental improvement. Using this approach it is suggested that the study of amorphous objects should be done at low accelerating voltage with correction of both spherical and chromatic aberration.

The processes of melting and freezing of aluminum (Al) particles have been observed directly in a transmission electron microscope. The liquid phase nucleated preferentially at the surface of an Al particle, surrounding the crystalline solid at the onset of melting. The liquid phase then propagated inside the Al particle at the expense of the solid.

Compositional imaging with electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) can be performed in both the energy-filtering transmission electron microscope (EFTEM) and in the scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM). Quantitative elemental distributions are obtained from core-edges produced by inner-shell excitations, although more detailed information about chemical bonding and electronic structure is also available from the fine structure associated with valence electron excitations. The fixed-beam EFTEM can provide data from large numbers of pixels very rapidly and offers an advantage for analysis of extended specimen regions containing relatively high atomic concentrations. Acquisition of entire spectra at each pixel in the field-emission STEM (spectrum-imaging technique) provides improved flexibility and accuracy despite the longer recording times. Spectrum-imaging allows post facto data processing with parameters that can be varied after acquisition is completed. In suitably thin specimens, EELS compositional mapping can provide a sensitivity of a few atoms for certain elements.