Monitoring and quantification of beam damage via low-dose continuous imaging

Gatan instruments 

The Metro^® camera enables low-dose imaging and diffraction at low kV via real-time electron counting with a simple user interface.

Background

Zeolites and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are nanostructured materials easily damaged by the electron beam, making them difficult to characterize by transmission electron microscope (TEM) imaging. With the advent of sensitive direct detection cameras capable of counting electrons one by one, the dose rate on the sample can be kept low enough to image these materials for extended periods with minimal damage. This creates opportunities to characterize the distribution of defects, supported metals, and other structural features within individual nanostructures.