High contrast STEM imaging for light elements by an annular segmented detector
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Updated: Jan 25, 2026

Wideband Optical Detector of Ultrasound for Medical Imaging Applications
Published on: May 11, 2014
Kousuke Ooe1, Takehito Seki1, Yuichi Ikuhara2
1Institute of Engineering Innovation, School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo, Yayoi 2-11-16, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-0032, Japan.
Abstract:
Annular bright-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (ABF STEM) has been actively used to directly observe the light element atoms inside materials and devices. However, the detector angle condition for conventional ABF STEM has been empirically selected and thus is not always optimized for observing ultra-light element atoms such as hydrogen and lithium atoms. In this study, the detector conditions for ABF STEM were reexamined by calculating a new type of phase contrast transfer function (PCTF) for an annularly segmented detector to maximize the image contrast of ultra-light element atoms such as lithium. Using this new PCTF, an improved detector geometry for observing lithium atoms is demonstrated, which is confirmed by the image simulations and experiments in several types of lithium cathode materials.
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