Physics of electron microscopy and its applications

随着纳米科学的日益重要，新的纳米材料的发展，以及对以近原子分辨率了解材料和工艺的需求，电子显微镜的重要性增加了。电子显微镜提供了低于一位数纳米尺度的定量信息，取代了我们在该尺度上的感官。尖端电子显微镜为合作伙伴带来了竞争优势，使他们能够获得最新的电子显微镜。艾伯塔大学和国家纳米技术研究所的电子显微镜研究计划专注于电子显微镜的发展，这种电子显微镜可以提供实用的、辐射敏感的样品的定量数据。为了提高我们的分析能力，我们开发了电子能量损失光谱学、电子全息术和电子泽尼克相板成像、电子层析成像和纳米束衍射的物理基础。许多产业界和学术界的合作者受益于我们实验室开发的专家系统。我们不断吸引来自世界各地顶尖实验室的合作，进一步加强我们实验室的声誉。我们与日立和JEOL合作将我们的研究成果商业化，从而在加拿大实现产品制造和财富创造。与仪器制造商的共同努力确保了我们的仪器持续提供最先进的能力。它向学生介绍复杂的仪器开发。我的大部分研究项目都是由国家研究委员会资助的。这项发现助学金提供了两个博士生培训机会。学生们将对电子显微镜的探索性科学方面进行研究。他们将在两个高影响领域工作：透射电子显微镜中的动量分辨电子能量损失谱，以及适用于电子辐照损伤的静电荷电现象的研究，以及透射电子显微镜中的相板成像。他们将与我们实验室的研究人员互动，并将有许多机会与来自日立和JEOL的合作研究人员和工程师互动。这些互动将为他们提供联系，这将使他们在整个科学生涯中受益。我们开发的新方法的应用将继续与来自世界各地的领先研究人员合作。我们实现的电子能量损失谱已经被证明是光学超材料分析中的一个关键因素。我们开发的相板成像是一种改变游戏规则的方法，应用范围从纳米磁性样本到人体健康应用的生物样本。

The importance of electron microscopy increases with the increasing importance of nanoscience, development of new nanomaterials and the desire to understand materials and processes on nearly atomic resolution. Electron microscopy provides quantitative information below single digit nanometer length scale replacing our senses at that scale. Cutting edge electron microscopy brings competitive advantage to collaborators with access to the newest electron microscopy. The electron microscopy research program at U of Alberta and the National Institute for Nanotechnology is focused on development of electron microscopy that can provide quantitative data on practical, radiation sensitive, samples. To improve our analytical capabilities, we develop physics underlying electron energy loss spectroscopy, electron holography and Zernike phase plate imaging with electrons, electron tomography and nano-beam diffraction. Many industrial and academic collaborators benefit from the expertize developed in our lab. We continuously attract collaborations from top laboratories around the world further strengthening the reputation of our laboratory. We commercialize the outcomes of our research in collaboration with Hitachi and JEOL leading to product manufacturing and wealth generation in Canada. The joint effort with the instrument manufacturers ensures that our instrumentation continuously offers state-of-the-art capabilities. It introduces students on sophisticated instrument development. Majority of my research program is funded by National Research Council. This Discovery Grant enables two PhD student training opportunities. The students will conduct research on the exploratory science aspect of electron microscopy. They will work in two high impact areas: momentum resolved electron energy loss spectroscopy in a transmission electron microscope and on investigation of electrostatic charging phenomena as applicable to electron irradiation damage and phase plate imaging in a transmission electron microscope. They will interact with research staff in our laboratory and will have many opportunities to interact with collaborating researchers and engineers from Hitachi and JEOL. The interactions will provide them with connections that will benefit them throughout their scientific career. The applications of the new methods we develop will continue to be pursued in collaborations with leading researchers from around the world. Our implementation of electron energy loss spectroscopy already proved to be a critical factor in analysis of optical metamaterials. The phase plate imaging we developed is a game changing approach with application ranging from nanomagnetism samples to bio samples for human health applications.