Topics in recent studies with high-voltage electron microscopes

In this article, topics in recent studies with high-voltage electron microscopes (HVEMs) are reviewed. High-voltage electron microscopy possesses a number of advantages that cannot be afforded by conventional electron microscopy, thus providing a unique microscopy technique in both materials science and biological science. One of these advantages is the capability of continuously observing phenomena using a variety of electron microscopy techniques simultaneously with the introduction of the displacement of atoms from lattice points. This has enabled in-depth studies on such fundamental subjects as the crystalline-to-amorphous-to-crystalline transition, the motion properties of point defects and the one-dimensional diffusion of dislocation loops. Electron tomography studies using HVEMs take advantage of the large observable thickness of a specimen. In addition, by combining different advantages, a number of advanced applications in materials science have been carried out, including analyses of the atomic structure of a reduction-induced reconstructed surface and the atomic mechanism behind the self-catalytic vapor-liquid-solid growth of an oxide nanowire. As long as excellent and invaluable studies that cannot be carried out without HVEMs appear in succession, it is necessary to make the utmost efforts to improve these microscopes.