SBIR Phase I: Optical Delivery System for In Situ Heating and Excitation in the Transmission Electron Microscope

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目将开发一种与透射式电子显微镜(TEM)兼容的光学传输系统，该系统将促进高温和激发态下的原子尺度成像和表征。拟议系统最关键和影响深远的更广泛影响是它将带来新的科学/发现。纳米和原子尺度的成像和表征对于推动新材料和新技术的发展至关重要，而新材料和新技术反过来又对研究和工业实验室至关重要。该仪器将使研究人员能够在以前无法获得的独特温度和时间区域内发现高温和激发态材料现象。拟议仪器的成功开发将产生收入，并孵化几个后续产品，这反过来将创造就业机会。第5年将把重点放在工业和研究实验室以及现有和新的TEM销售的市场目标上。方便的是，该系统可以适用于其他材料的表征技术，扩大了创新的影响。该项目的智能优点是设计、组装和测试了一种光学传输系统，该系统特别适合在透射电子显微镜中进行纳米和原子尺度的表征。这一创新提供了一种具有前所未有的能力的系统，通过局域光热和光激模式在透射电子显微镜中操纵材料。光热模式将使人们能够灵活、非侵入性和无处不在地获取透射电子显微镜样品，并实现标准电阻加热系统无法获得的独特温度和时间区域。这种激发模式将使研究人员能够在纳米尺度上成像和表征材料的光学激发态。该仪器由双光纤耦合的光学加热和激发通道组成，安装在专门设计的纳米操纵器上，以实现精确的x-y-z定位。除了硬件开发外，还将为光源和纳米操纵器系统开发适当的软件控制。最后，田纳西大学将进行现场加热和激发的显微镜测试。具体地说，提出了三项用于显微镜下测试/验证的任务：(1)原位高温成像，(2)光热去除石墨烯中的不定碳污染，(3)在电子能量损失/增益谱过程中等离子体纳米粒子的原位光激发。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop an optical delivery system compatible with a transmission electron microscope (TEM) that will facilitate atomic-scale imaging and characterization at high-temperatures and excited states. The most critical and far-reaching broader impact of the proposed system is the new science/discovery that it will enable. Imaging and characterization at the nano- and atomic-scale are critical to advancing new materials and technologies, which are in turn critical to research and industry laboratories. The instrumentation will enable researchers to uncover high-temperature and excited-state materials phenomena in unique temperature and temporal regimes previously inaccessible. The successful development of the proposed instrumentation will generate revenue and incubate several follow-on products, which in turn will create jobs. Year 5 will focus on both industry and research laboratories and market targets for both existing and new TEM sales. Conveniently, the system can be adapted for other materials characterization techniques to broaden the impact of the innovation. The intellectual merit of this project is the design, assembly, and testing of an optical delivery system specifically suitable for nano-and atomic-scale characterization in the TEM. The innovation delivers a system with unprecedented ability to manipulate materials in the TEM via the localized photothermal and photoexcited modalities. The photothermal modality will enable agile, non-invasive, and ubiquitous access to TEM specimens and enable unique temperature and temporal regimes not accessible with standard resistive heating systems. The excitation modality will enable researchers to image and characterize optical-excited states of materials at the nanoscale. The proposed instrumentation consists of dual fiber-coupled optical heating and excitation channels housed on a specially designed nanomanipulator for accurate x-y-z positioning. In addition to the hardware development, appropriate software controls will be developed for the optical sources and the nanomanipulator system. Finally, in-microscope testing of the in situ heating and excitation will be performed at the University of Tennessee. Specifically, three tasks are proposed for the in-microscope testing/validation: (1) in situ high-temperature imaging, (2) photothermal adventitious carbon decontamination from graphene, and (3) in situ optical excitation of plasmonic nanoparticles during electron energy loss/gain spectroscopy.