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Obtaining 3D Chemical Maps by Energy Filtered Transmission Electron Microscopy Tomography
Published on: June 9, 2018
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Elemental mapping in achromatic atomic-resolution energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy.
B D Forbes1, L Houben2, J Mayer3
1School of Physics, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia.
Ultramicroscopy
|July 28, 2014
Summary
Atomic-resolution energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM) reveals that core-loss maps may not directly represent elemental composition due to preserved elastic contrast. Detailed simulations are crucial for accurate interpretation of EFTEM images.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Solid State Physics
- Electron Microscopy
Background:
- Energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM) is a powerful technique for materials analysis.
- Interpreting EFTEM images, especially core-loss maps, can be challenging due to complex scattering phenomena.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between experimental EFTEM images and simulations.
- To understand the contributions of different scattering processes to EFTEM images.
- To determine the conditions for direct elemental mapping using EFTEM.
Main Methods:
- Atomic-resolution EFTEM imaging using a chromatic-aberration-corrected FEI Titan PICO.
- Comparison of experimental EFTEM images with simulations based on the transition potential formulation for inelastic scattering.
- Analysis of Ti-L2,3 and O-K edges in a strontium titanate (SrTiO3) specimen.
Main Results:
- Qualitative agreement was found between experimental and simulated background-subtracted EFTEM images.
- Energy-filtered images for Ti-L2,3 and O-K edges were identified as lattice images.
- Background-subtracted core-loss maps were not directly interpretable as elemental maps due to preserved elastic contrast.
Conclusions:
- The qualitative image details in EFTEM are primarily determined by elastic, coherent scattering.
- This preservation of elastic contrast limits the specimen thickness for obtaining directly useful elemental maps.
- Detailed simulations are essential for accurate interpretation of EFTEM images.
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