Acquiring counted 4D STEM with the Metro camera

Instruments used

With a simple user interface, the Metro^® counting camera enables low-dose imaging and diffraction at low kV via real-time electron counting. In a 4D STEM experiment, the STEMx^® system precisely synchronizes the speed of the scanning probe to the camera frame rate to enable high-speed data acquisition and eliminates the potential for data loss.

Background

2D materials like boron nitride are increasingly studied for their unique and tunable properties. Determining the alignment and morphology of 2D sheets is important for characterizing material quality, and 4D STEM coupled with electron counting is an ideal technique to characterize the structure of meaningful sample areas quickly. When coupled with post-processing tools such as Python scripting, results can be quickly validated at the transmission electron microscope (TEM).