New microscope technology gives researchers a detailed look at structure and composition of materials

said braka 3:37 AM
Using a  camera and an image filter, the

group discovered that it can obtain a crisper picture of chemical structure and composition, and to obtain this data quite rapidly. It is also sensitive enough to operate the microscope in a way that allows scientists to study fragile, biological samples without damaging them. Drexel is the first to combine the use of these technologies to give researchers a detailed, clear look at the mechanisms behind chemical and physical reactions almost as quickly as they occur.
The team, led by Mitra Taheri, PhD, Hoeganaes associate professor in Drexel's College of Engineering and director of the Dynamic Characterization Group in the Materials Science and Engineering Department, recently published its findings from a side-by-side test of a newly developed direct detection camera and a conventional indirect detection camera, both developed by Gatan. Their piece in the journal Nature Scientific Reports, suggests that applying a direct detection sensor to standard electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) will greatly enhance scientists ability to study a materials structure and chemistry at the nanometer level
"EELS is a popular technique that has been around for a while, however, the noise present in EELS is a major problem," according to Jamie Hart, a doctoral researcher and coauthor of the paper. "By applying direct detection to EELS, we can greatly reduce the experimental noise, which will improve over real-time observation of dynamic processes, such as tracking the motion of lithium ions in Li-ion batteries, and it will aid the study of sensitive materials, like biological matter."


Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-09-microscope-technology-composition-materials.html#jCp