New algorithm for electron microscopes reveals a new "hidden world"!

Cornell University engineers have developed a new technology so powerful that it doubles the resolution of today's advanced electron microscopes. It allows for direct observation of individual atoms in three dimensions and produces clear images, with the only source of blurriness coming from the atoms' own movement. This technology will be particularly useful for imaging atoms at the junctions of materials like semiconductors and catalysts.

We reconstructed the PrScO3 crystal using electron microscopy, magnifying it one billion times.

Now, there are an increasing number of smartphones orTelescopes are equipped with high-resolution cameras that can magnify up to the point where you can see the surface of the moon, but none of these can be compared to the Electron Microscope Pixel Array Detector (EMPAD) developed by Professor David Muller's team at Cornell University's engineering department.

In 2018, our team developed the high-performance microscope EMPAD, combined with ptychography algorithms, which directly tripled the resolution of electron microscopes, securing a Guinness World Record with a measurable precision down to 0.039 nanometers. One of the researchers at the time, Sol Gruner, humorously commented that he always thought he would need to eat 40 hamburgers in five minutes or stand on one foot for several days to earn a place in the Guinness World Records, but little did he know that all it took was seeing a few atoms to gain an entry ticket.

Professor Sol Gruner in Physics and Professor David Muller in Applied Engineering Physics and Engineering Physics

The team has now combined a more sophisticated 3D reconstruction algorithm with scanning of the PrScO3 crystal, doubling the world record resolution of electron microscopes. The precision is so high that it can reveal the chemical bonds within individual atoms and molecules, with the only source of blurriness remaining the thermal vibrations of the atomic lattice itself.

Previous attempts to image individual atoms often resulted in blurry images, akin to seeing the world through glasses that don't fit properly. However, the team's technology has now advanced to the point where it can accurately locate individual atoms in three dimensions, detect impurities within samples, and even image them and their vibrations. For the industry, this is particularly useful when evaluating the quality of semiconductors, catalysts, and sensitive quantum materials for quantum computers.

In addition, the team could only image samples of extremely thin materials just a few atoms thick in the past. However, the new technology allows for imaging thicker material samples (though it will still fail if the thickness increases too much due to the unresolvable scattering of electrons), which not only aids in imaging atomic boundaries in materials such as semiconductors and catalysts but also improves current yixue imaging, producing clearer images of thicker biological tissues, brain synapses, and more.

Although the process of obtaining such high-precision images is still time-consuming, it can be expedited by utilizing more powerful computers and combining them with new computational methods.