Suppression of charging effect on collagen fibrils utilizing a conductive probe in TEM

We investigate the effectiveness of utilizing a conductive probe for a transmission electron microscope (TEM) to suppress charging caused by electron irradiation. To do this, the electric field around a charged collagen fibril was visualized by electron holography and then quantitatively analyzed by computer simulations. The electric field changed noticeably when the conductive probe was moved near the specimen and charging was drastically suppressed when the conductive probe directly touched the charged specimen. The causes of the change in the electric field and suppression of charging are briefly discussed.