eaSI Spectrum Imaging

Delivers the most efficient and effective workflow for your advanced spectrum imaging experiments.

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Overview: 

eaSI™ technology delivers the most efficient and effective workflow for your advanced STEM experiments.

eaSI                             Examples of eaSI                              Benefits of eaSI

What is STEM spectrum imaging?

During scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), the electron beam is focused to a fine spot, ranging from a few nanometers down to nearly atomic dimensions, on an electron-transparent specimen. As electrons interact with the specimen and then scatter, generating different types of analytical signals:

You can then record a spatially resolved distribution of one-dimensional (1D) spectra or two-dimensional (2D) diffraction images in scanning mode to build 2D, 3D, or 4D datasets that reveal unique details in the specimen. This technique is known as spectrum imaging (SI), which systematically probes a defined specimen area (multiple points, line scan, or a 2D array) to gather the maximum possible information automatically.

eaSI

eaSI, exclusively from Gatan, is the only solution that allows spectrum imaging experiments to leverage the most advanced electron detectors and STEM SI workflows in DigitalMicrograph® software. Combining detailed analytical information with high spatial resolution is the most powerful aspect of STEM, and eaSI helps you realize this in the most effective and efficient way. 

Analyzing a specimen with a single STEM technique is often insufficient to fully understand the system and explain/predict the material properties/behavior. As a result, this requires a combination of multiple methods and complementary signals from various detectors (STEM imaging, EELS, EDS, and 4D STEM). The challenge is ensuring that signals collected on different detectors are spatially linked and temporally synchronized. eaSI makes this possible in the most efficient and effective way.

  • eaSI combines multiple STEM techniques
  • eaSI synchronizes all STEM detector signals seamlessly
  • eaSI links STEM datasets

Examples of how eaSI works

In this dataset, a fully automated multimodal in-situ heating experiment captures the reduction of copper oxide to metallic copper. This irreversible thermal decomposition involves simultaneous microstructural, crystallographic, and chemical changes. In conventional systems, this experiment is challenging since it requires more than one analytical technique (EELS, EDS, and 4D STEM) and often requires a heroic manual effort to record spatial and temporal evolutions within a sample. 

Throughout this experiment, eaSI uses a single computer and software interface to automatically combine and link spatial and temporal datasets from different detectors. Compared to a manual experiment, eaSI automation improves temperature resolution by 25x, TEM-user productivity by 300x, and eliminates unavoidable inaccuracies associated with human error. 

Once a multimodal dataset collection is complete, it must be analyzed and processed. The below results demonstrate how eaSI enables users to examine true spatially correlated chemical (EELS) and crystallography (4D STEM) data collected as a part of a single STEM experiment within DigitalMicrograph software. Using the linked EELS and 4D STEM data, 4D STEM virtual aperture analysis was first performed to identify distinct crystallites in gadolinium-treated carbon nanohorns. Then EELS spectra from the exact same crystallites were analyzed to confirm that both gadolinium and oxygen were present in these areas.

Benefits

Right tools for multimodal STEM studies Encompasses the broadest range of STEM-optimized EELS, EDS, and 4D STEM detectors to propel your studies forward
Brings a new dimension to your research Allows you to observe dynamics in situ within your three-dimensional (3D) EELS, EDS, and 4D STEM datasets so you can better understand nanomaterials and devices in real-time and under real-world conditions
Seamlessly links multimodal and dimensional data.  Spatially links 3D, 4D, and even 5D SI data within DigitalMicrograph so you can visualize novel chemical-, compositional-, morphological-, and structure-function information in your materials and devices with a greater degree of confidence. 
            Shortens the time to meaningful results (set up, acquisition, and processing)  Regardless of your level of expertise, utilizes the most efficient workflows within a single DigitalMicrograph interface to deliver multidimensional and correlative results within minutes.    
Ensures no compromise between speed and functionality   Leverages the leading DigitalMicrograph STEM SI technique to coordinate complex transitions and eliminate downtime between modes while maintaining the high precision you expect in a standalone experiment 
Makes the impossible possible    Utilizes scripting to easily expand workflows to address more complex studies and diminish the need for hero experiments   

Resources:

 

Applications

Achieving ~1 Å resolution in Tb3Sc2Al3O12 STEM EELS mapping with GIF Continuum K3

Achieving ~1 Å resolution in Tb3Sc2Al3O12 STEM EELS mapping with GIF Continuum K3

Dose fractionation using multi-pass in-situ spectrum imaging

Dose fractionation using multi-pass in-situ spectrum imaging

K3 IS camera for electron ptychography: Mapping oxygen in SrTiO3

Complete multielement composition analysis with simultaneously collected EDS and EELS

Live EDS mapping in DigitalMicrograph with Elite T Super

NBED strain measurements enhanced via energy-filtered 4D STEM

eaSI 4D STEM Applications

Acquiring counted electron diffraction data without a beam stop with Gatan electron counting direct detectors

Acquiring counted 4D STEM with the Metro camera

High throughput differential phase contrast (DPC) imaging of Si-MoS2 core-shell structure

Electric field mapping in 2D heterostructures using differential phase contrast

Magnetite nanoparticle orientation mapping from a 4D STEM dataset

Electron counting 4D STEM studies of human tooth enamel

Grain boundary structure of two-dimensional tellurium revealed by 4D STEM

Virtual (BF/DF) imaging reveals the position and concentration of precipitates in a Ni-W alloy

High-speed 4D STEM diffraction analysis of directionally-grown ZnO nanowires: Benefits of a high-speed camera

 

eaSI EELS Applications

Phase mapping of dose-sensitive polymers using multipass in-situ spectrum imaging

Phase mapping of dose-sensitive polymers using multipass in-situ spectrum imaging

Dose fractionation using multi-pass in-situ spectrum imaging

Dose fractionation using multi-pass in-situ spectrum imaging

High-Speed Composition and Chemical Analysis of Nanoelectronic Materials with GIF Continuum

High-speed composition and chemical analysis of nanoelectronic materials with GIF Continuum

High-speed composition and chemical analysis of Si/STO/PZT with GIF Continuum

In-situ EELS spectrum imaging at elevated temperature

Atomic-level EELS mapping using high energy edges in DualEELS™ mode

High speed EELS composition analysis, in DualEELS mode, of metal alloy ohmic contacts for the fabrication of III-V MOSFET devices

The use of MLLS fitting approach to resolve overlapping edges in the EELS spectrum at the atomic level

EELS: A tool for investigating biological materials

Fast simultaneous acquisition of low- and core-loss regions in the EELS spectrum from catalyst particles containing the heavy metals Au and Pd using the GIF Quantum® system

Fast STEM spectrum imaging using simultaneous EELS and EDS in Gatan Microscopy Suite® software

Review of recent advances in spectrum imaging and its extension to reciprocal space

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