MicroscopyInnovations 2010 Microscopy Today Innovation Award Winners
Microscopy Today congratulates its first group of
Innovation Award winners. Te ten innovations described below move several microscopy techniques forward: light microscopy, scanning probe microscopy, electron microscopy, analytical microscopy, and specimen preparation. Tese innovations will make imaging and analysis more powerful, more flexible, more productive, and easier to accomplish.
Adaptive Band Excitation in Scanning Probe Microscopy
Oak Ridge National Laboratory Asylum Research Corporation
Developers: Stephen Jesse, Sergei V. Kalinin, and Roger Proksch
Scanning probe micro-
scopy (SPM) is established as a powerful tool for probing structure and functionality, including magnetic, electrical, and mechanical properties, down to the nanometer and oſten the atomic level. However,
to understand factors limiting the efficiency of materials and devices, measurements of energy losses and dissipation on the nanoscale are of interest. Single-frequency SPMs are incapable of providing this energy transfer information quantitatively because only two parameters (for example, amplitude and phase) of the vibrating cantilever are measured experimentally, whereas at least three (for example, resonance frequency, amplitude, and Q-factor) are required to describe the dynamics of the system. For most piezo-driven SPM modes, the constant driving force provides an additional constraint. However, although the errors involved in measuring the conservative interactions are relatively small and the signal can be quantified, for dissipative interactions the errors exceed 100% and calibration is impossible because appropriate standards are not available. Correspondingly, there are few SPM (or any other) studies of dissipative phenomena on the nanoscale. Adaptive Band Excitation overcomes the intrinsic
limitation of all standard SPM modes based on lock-in and phase-locked-loop detection: the sinusoidal excitation signal. Te lock-in amplifier detects the amplitude and phase only at a single frequency. Te use of a digitally synthesized Adaptive Band Excitation signal allows responses to be detected at multiple frequencies in parallel, allowing rapid acquisition of full amplitude-frequency response curves in the time corresponding to a single point measurement in standard SPM methods. Tis allows the full spectral response at each pixel to be mapped with only modest degradation of signal-to-noise ratio compared to the
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conventional method. Adaptive Band Excitation thus provides a new approach for SPM operation that enables unambiguous and cross-talk-free probing of local energy losses and dissipation. Te Adaptive Band Excitation method is universally applicable and can be retrofitted to all SPM systems.
ClairScopeTM
JEOL USA, Inc. JEOL Ltd.
Developers: Hidetoshi Nishiyama, Mitsuru Koizumi, Kouji Ogawa, Mitsuo Suga, Toshikazu Ogura, and Chikara Sato Te ClairScopeTM
(JASM-
6200) is a new microscopy tool that integrates a wide-field light optical microscope (LOM) with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Coupling SEM with light microscopy not only yields comple-
mentary information but also provides a high image resolution (8 nm) through SEM imaging. Te key innovation in this instrument is that it allows concurrent imaging of a sample in its native state (in solution) at atmospheric pressure and temperature by both the light microscope and the SEM. In this system the light microscope is positioned above an
open culture dish for quasi-simultaneous observation with an atmospheric SEM (ASEM). Tis enables correlative photon and electron microscopy. Te SEM has been inverted so that the electron column is below an open dish with a silicon nitride (SiN) window built into its base. Te SiN window is 10–100 nm in thickness, allowing electron transmission while sustaining a 1-atm pressure differential. Te ClairScopeTM
is a true correlative instrument.
Conventional variable pressure or environmental SEMs allow imaging of non-conductive or hydrated samples, but the sample is still subjected to some level of vacuum. Tere also are environmental holders (for example, QuantomiX capsules) that allow imaging of liquids and wet biological materials; however, the sample volume is limited to 15 µL, and concurrent light microscopy imaging is not possible. An important advance is that the sample area is open,
allowing for easy sample manipulation and reagent exchange while SEM imaging at atmospheric pressure. Sample volumes can be as high as 10 mL. Te sample holder is compatible with either cell cultures or a wide range of materials (liquids, gels, solids, etc.). Dynamic phenomena such as crystallization, drying processes, and electrochemical reactions (sample holder with electrodes) can be followed in real time. Biological materials can be imaged without the lengthy pretreatment (dehydration, fixation, coating, etc.) necessary in conventional SEMs.
doi:10.1017/S1551929510000933
www.microscopy-today.com • 2010 September
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