TEM Flashcards
reasons to index a diffraction pattern and the utility of knowing directions
- crystal structure information including crystallinity, lattice parameters, symmetry, grain size, fabric
- directions give proper phase identification and can give clues to thermodynamic origins
how to obtain highest practical resolution
highest acceleration voltage with the smallest spherical aberration coefficient
do the laue equations or braggs law better describe electron diffraction?
we typically use Braggs law to describe a special condition of the Laue equations which describe the process of elastic scattering in transmission. Braggs law does not properly represent electron diffraction because it assumes scattering at a glancing angle. Laue’s equations take into account the the agnle of incidence and angle of the diffracted beam
how to get thickness from an EELS spectrum
log of the total intensity in the low loss region divided by the intensity of the zero loss peak multiplied, multiplied by the mean free path (
Bragg’s law
2 d sin (theta) = n lambda
3 systems of a TEM
illumination (gun and condenser lenses), image forming system (objective lenses), imaging recording lenses (projector lenses)
astigmatism
nonuniformity of lens distorts probe into an ellipse
occurs when electrons are affected by a non-uniform magnetic field as they spiral
spherical aberrations
inability of the lens to focus electron beam in the same image plane, smears out point into a disc. electrons that pass through the lens further from the center are refracted more than those passing through the center
chromatic aberrations
energy spread of beam and as electrons scatter into sample, close to the focal length of the lens, caused by gun and sample, only relevant after 5th order Cs correction. slower electrons are diffracted more strongly than nominal electrons
electromagnetic radiation of different energies converging at different focal planes
eucentric position
horizontal center of the objective lens, point where the sample should not translate while tilting in alpha
where are diffraction patterns formed?
back focal plane of the objective lens
selected area electron diffraction
a field-limiting aperture that is placed into the image plane of the objective lens to create a virtual aperture above the sample
imaging type in TEM mode
bright field imaging in TEM mode does not allow for constructive interference, giving us amplitude contrast
diffraction vs imaging mode in TEM mode
in diffraction mode, the BFP of the objective lens is the object plane of the intermediate lens
in image mode, the image plane of the objective lens is the object plane of the intermediate lens
relationship between camera length and DP
Rd=lambdaL
diffraction pattern
records the distribution of scattered electrons around the forward scattered beam, gives d-spacings of cell
atomic scattering factor
measure of the scattering amplitude of electrons scattered from isolated atom, depends on scattering angle, lambda, and atomic number
structure factor
tells us if to expect reflections in our DP based on the symmetry of the unit cell, measure of the amplitude scattered by the unit cell of a crystal. amplitude of scattering is impacted by the type, position, and atomic planes of the atom
fluorescence yield
ratio of x-ray emissions to inner shell ionization events
plasmons
incident electrons cause oscillations in the free electron gas
phonons
shaking of the lattice as a result of striking by incident electrons causes lattice to heat up due to vibrations
3 types of beam damage
- radiolysis: breaking of chemical bonds
- knock-on damage: displacement of atoms from their preferred lattice positions, resulting in point defects
- heating due to phonons
dead time
how long detector is shut off to evaluate the charge pulse
Cliff-Lorimer method
concentration of element A (in wt%) over element B is equal to the sensitivity factor of the elements times the intensity of element A over element B
contributions to the sensitivity factor in EDS
ZAF: atomic number, absorption of x-rays, fluorescence of x-rays
in TEM, only need to correct for Z bc of thin foil criterion
electron energy loss spectroscopy
uses the amount of energy lost by incident electrons to probe the structure, bonding, oxidation state, nearest neighbor environment of sample
how to form an amplitude contrast image
insert a field-limiting aperture around an image forming beam, use the forward scattered beam to exclude all diffracted beams and form a bright field image. putting the aperture around a diffracted beam will give you a dark field image of everything oriented in a certain direction
when are lenses used?
in TEM mode you use objective lenses to form an image. in STEM we use solid state detectors
camera length
current of intermediate/projector lenses, “length” between sample to image plane
short length = high angle = more signal
utility of EELS vs EDS
EELS collects all forward scattered electrons
EDS has fluoresence yield to contend with
X-rays are scattered isotropically but we can only collect 2.0 sr
what defines the resolution of the microscope
Cs and acceleration voltage
what does the distance between spots on a diffraction pattern represent
close spots=large d-spacing (reciprocal space)
high spatial frequency = large distances from optic axis in diffraction pattern
objective lens transfer function
T(u)=A(u)*E(U) 2sin(X(u))
when T is negative, you get positive phase contrast and atoms appear dark against light background
when T is large, we have constant contrast such that we resolve small distances in real space
Scherzer defocus
balance Cs with negative value of delta F optimizes the contrast transfer function
at this value, all beams have constant phase out to first crossover of zero axis
this point is defined as the instrumental resolution limit where you can use intuition to interpret images
envelope damping function
T_eff=T(u)E_cE_a
E_c: envelope function for chromatic aberrations
E_a: spatial coherence envelope
envelope function imposes a virtual aperture in BFP in obj lens regardless of defocus value
information limit
resolution limit of microscope
instrumental vs information limit
instrumental limit is defined by the scherzer defocus value, the value where the beams will have nearly constant phase out to the first crossover of the zero axis. this is the limit where we can use intuitive arguments to interpret what we see. just because we can see detail does not mean that we can gain useful information from it.
the information limit is the highest spatial frequency transferred to the image with statistical significance
deriving braggs law
he rays of the incident beam are always in phase and parallel up to the point at which the top beam strikes the top layer at atom z (Fig. 1). The second beam continues to the next layer where it is scattered by atom B. The second beam must travel the extra distance AB + BC if the two beams are to continue traveling adjacent and parallel. This extra distance must be an integral (n) multiple of the wavelength (lambda) for the phases of the two beams to be the same.Recognizing d as the hypotenuse of the right triangle Abz, we can use trigonometry to relate d and theta to the distance (AB + BC). The distance AB is opposite theta so,
(eq 3) AB = d sintheta .
Because AB = BC eq. (2) becomes,
(eq 4) nlambda = 2AB
Substituting eq. (3) in eq. (4) we have,
(eq 1) nlambda = 2 d sintheta
components of an EELS spectrum
zero loss peak (ZLP): elastically scattered or unscattered electrons, lost no energy interacting with the sample
low-loss region: first 50 eV, contains electron information from the weakly bound conduction and valence band electrons
high-loss region: elemental information from tightly bound, core-shell electrons, detailed bonding and atomic distribution information
components of an EELS spectrometer
entrance aperture (select electrons), focusing coils, magnetically isolated drift tube, magnetic prism (separates electrons based on amount of energy lost, more loss=higher deflection angle), detector
why do you have to focus an EELS spectrometer?
the spectrometer is also a lens. you must minimize the the aberrations and astigmatism. you must focus the electrons because off-axis electrons experience a different magnetic field to on-axis electrons. the path length of off-axis electrons through the magnet varies
energy resolution of EELS
the FWHM of the focused ZLP, 0.3 eV in our microscope, based on the gun. best resolution requires small projector crossover and a small entrance aperture