Evolving the Frontiers of Analtyical Electron Microscopy for High Spatial Resolution
Materials Characterization: The TEAM Project
Nestor J. Zaluzec
Argonne National Laboratory
Electron Microscopy Center, Materials Science Division
Argonne Il, 60440 USA;
Email:zaluzec@aaem.amc.anl.gov
Electron microscopy is on the brink of a revolution based on major recent advances in
electron optics, detectors and computing power. These advances make it possible to
overcome fundamental current limitations posed by lens aberrations. The resulting leap in
performance will lead to a new generation of electron microscopes, significantly more
powerful than today’s instruments. This new generation of electron microscopes will
feature substantial progress in spatial, temporal and spectral resolution, with higher
brightness and sensitivity, providing unprecedented scientific opportunities for atomic
level characterization of materials. To take full advantage of these opportunities it is
necessary to re-evaluate the design of the electron microscope, from electron source to
detectors, from site stability to data analysis. Such an effort requires scientific and
technical expertise, funding, infrastructure and experience at a level not available at
universities or in industry, but which does exist within the Department of Energy’s
National Labs. DOE’s five centers for electron beam microcharacterization, located at
ANL, BNL, LBNL, ORNL and FS-MRL, are prepared to lead a project to develop the
next generation Transmission Electron Aberration-corrected Microscope (TEAM).
Collectively, these centers have the scientific expertise and the supporting infrastructure
to carry out such a project and to ensure that the resulting instrumentation benefits the
entire scientific community. The goal of this project, to develop an extraordinary new
tool for materials characterization and to make it broadly available as a user facility, lies
at the core of the mission of the Office of Science of the Department of Energy. In
addition, the TEAM instrument’s unique ability to characterize nanomaterials with
unparalleled resolution is of central importance to the current national effort in
nanoscience, and supports the collocation of this project with DOE’s nanoscience
facilities.