Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Overview of Electron Microscopy01:25

Overview of Electron Microscopy

12.3K
The wavelengths of visible light ultimately limit the maximum theoretical resolution of images created by light microscopes. Most light microscopes can only magnify 1000X, and a few can magnify up to 1500X. Electrons, like electromagnetic radiation, can behave like waves, but with wavelengths of 0.005 nm, they produce significantly greater resolution up to 0.05 nm as compared to 500 nm for visible light. An electron microscope (EM) can create a sharp image that is magnified up to 2,000,000X.
12.3K
Transmission Electron Microscopy01:15

Transmission Electron Microscopy

6.5K
In 1931, physicist Ernst Ruska—building on the idea that magnetic fields can direct an electron beam just as lenses can direct a beam of light in an optical microscope—developed the first prototype of the electron microscope. This development led to the development of the field of electron microscopy. In the transmission electron microscope (TEM), electrons are produced by a hot tungsten element and accelerated by a potential difference in an electron gun, which gives them up to 400...
6.5K
Electron Orbital Model01:18

Electron Orbital Model

70.9K
Orbitals are the areas outside of the atomic nucleus where electrons are most likely to reside. They are characterized by different energy levels, shapes, and three-dimensional orientations. The location of electrons is described most generally by a shell or principal energy level, then by a subshell within each shell, and finally, by individual orbitals found within the subshells.
The first shell is closest to the nucleus, and it has only one subshell with a single spherical orbital called the...
70.9K
The de Broglie Wavelength02:32

The de Broglie Wavelength

32.1K
In the macroscopic world, objects that are large enough to be seen by the naked eye follow the rules of classical physics. A billiard ball moving on a table will behave like a particle; it will continue traveling in a straight line unless it collides with another ball, or it is acted on by some other force, such as friction. The ball has a well-defined position and velocity or well-defined momentum, p = mv, which is defined by mass m and velocity v at any given moment. This is the typical...
32.1K
Electron Behavior00:54

Electron Behavior

106.4K
Overview
Electrons are negatively charged subatomic particles that are attracted to an orbit around the positively-charged nucleus of an atom. They reside in locations that are associated with energy levels called shells and are further organized into sub-shells and orbitals within each shell.
Electrons Orbit the Nucleus
Electrons are found in specific locations outside of the nucleus. The shell in which an electron resides indicates the general energy level of the electron: those closer to the...
106.4K
The Uncertainty Principle04:08

The Uncertainty Principle

30.3K
Werner Heisenberg considered the limits of how accurately one can measure properties of an electron or other microscopic particles. He determined that there is a fundamental limit to how accurately one can measure both a particle’s position and its momentum simultaneously. The more accurate the measurement of the momentum of a particle is known, the less accurate the position at that time is known and vice versa. This is what is now called the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. He...
30.3K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

In multi electron beam systems, "Neighbours Matter".

Ultramicroscopy·2023
Same author

Principles of electron wave front modulation with two miniature electron mirrors.

Ultramicroscopy·2021
Same author

Electrostatic electron mirror in SEM for simultaneous imaging of top and bottom surfaces of a sample.

Ultramicroscopy·2021
Same author

Pulse length, energy spread, and temporal evolution of electron pulses generated with an ultrafast beam blanker.

Structural dynamics (Melville, N.Y.)·2019
Same author

Concept and design of a beam blanker with integrated photoconductive switch for ultrafast electron microscopy.

Ultramicroscopy·2017
Same author

Designs for a quantum electron microscope.

Ultramicroscopy·2016
Same journal

Predictive drift compensation of multi-frame STEM via live scan modification.

Ultramicroscopy·2026
Same journal

Deep PACBED: Multitask analysis of PACBED images using deep neural networks.

Ultramicroscopy·2026
Same journal

Guided progressive reconstructive imaging: A new quantization-based framework for low-dose, high-throughput and real-time analytical ptychography.

Ultramicroscopy·2026
Same journal

Brightness optimization in a 200 keV DTEM source by geometry-driven aberration suppression.

Ultramicroscopy·2026
Same journal

Characterization of the Timepix4 hybrid pixel detector and its impact on four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy (4D-STEM).

Ultramicroscopy·2026
Same journal

Contamination analysis of the residual gas composition in transmission electron microscopy.

Ultramicroscopy·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 1, 2025

Author Spotlight: Fabrication of a Low-Cost, Fiber-Coupled, and Air-Spaced Fabry-Pérot Etalon
07:22

Author Spotlight: Fabrication of a Low-Cost, Fiber-Coupled, and Air-Spaced Fabry-Pérot Etalon

Published on: February 3, 2023

7.5K

Flat electron mirror.

M A R Krielaart1, P Kruit1

  • 1Department of Imaging Physics, Delft University of Technology, Lorentzweg 1, 2628CJ Delft, The Netherlands.

Ultramicroscopy
|November 7, 2020
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers designed a novel tetrode mirror system to reduce aberrations in electron beams. This innovative electron mirror design achieves a 7.6 nm diffraction-limited resolution, enhancing electron microscopy applications.

Keywords:
Patterned electron mirrorsSpot size calculationsTetrode electron mirror

More Related Videos

Demonstration of Equal-Intensity Beam Generation by Dielectric Metasurfaces
09:33

Demonstration of Equal-Intensity Beam Generation by Dielectric Metasurfaces

Published on: June 7, 2019

6.5K
Demonstration of Spin-Multiplexed and Direction-Multiplexed All-Dielectric Visible Metaholograms
08:48

Demonstration of Spin-Multiplexed and Direction-Multiplexed All-Dielectric Visible Metaholograms

Published on: September 25, 2020

6.1K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Dec 1, 2025

Author Spotlight: Fabrication of a Low-Cost, Fiber-Coupled, and Air-Spaced Fabry-Pérot Etalon
07:22

Author Spotlight: Fabrication of a Low-Cost, Fiber-Coupled, and Air-Spaced Fabry-Pérot Etalon

Published on: February 3, 2023

7.5K
Demonstration of Equal-Intensity Beam Generation by Dielectric Metasurfaces
09:33

Demonstration of Equal-Intensity Beam Generation by Dielectric Metasurfaces

Published on: June 7, 2019

6.5K
Demonstration of Spin-Multiplexed and Direction-Multiplexed All-Dielectric Visible Metaholograms
08:48

Demonstration of Spin-Multiplexed and Direction-Multiplexed All-Dielectric Visible Metaholograms

Published on: September 25, 2020

6.1K

Area of Science:

  • Electron optics
  • Charged particle beam manipulation
  • Aberration correction

Background:

  • Electron beams reflected by flat electrodes suffer from significant chromatic and spherical aberrations.
  • Combining electron mirrors with electrostatic lenses (tetrode mirror systems) exacerbates these aberrations, limiting resolution.
  • Existing designs restrict the maximum aperture angle, hindering attainable image plane resolution.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To numerically study and optimize the design parameters of a tetrode mirror system for aberration reduction.
  • To investigate the use of negative third-order spherical aberration to compensate for positive fifth-order aberration.
  • To achieve diffraction-limited resolution in an electron mirror system.

Main Methods:

  • Numerical simulation of a tetrode mirror system with flat electrodes and round apertures.
  • Systematic variation of design parameters, including electrode potentials and spacing.
  • Analysis of third and fifth-order spherical aberration coefficients.
  • Calculation of diffraction-limited resolution at a specified beam energy and image plane distance.

Main Results:

  • Identified design configurations where third-order spherical aberration can be made negative.
  • Demonstrated that negative third-order aberration can partially compensate for positive fifth-order aberration.
  • Achieved a diffraction-limited resolution of 7.6 nm at 2 keV beam energy with a 2.3 mrad beam semi-angle.
  • Enabled an illumination radius of 40 μm at the mirror.

Conclusions:

  • The optimized tetrode mirror design significantly reduces aberrations, enabling high-resolution electron imaging.
  • This patterned electron mirror technology has potential applications as phase plates in electron microscopy.
  • The design is also suitable for coherent beam splitters in Quantum Electron Microscopy.
  • The appendix provides a method for calculating focused beam spot size, applicable to aberration-corrected electron microscopes.