Design/Manufacture of a Compact Pulsed Hollow Cone Aberration Corrected Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope System
Project: Research
Researcher(s)
Description
Radiation sensitivity and low contrast are the main bottlenecks for high-resolution biological imaging in electron microscopy. Recently, pulsed electron source has been recognized as one of the most viable techniques for reducing radiation damage, while hollow-cone dark-field imaging has been proved to enhance contrast as much as four times that that of bright field. However, pulse electron gun and hollow cone electron beam have only been implemented individually into separate floor models of an electron microscope. The integration of a pulse source with hollow-cone illumination into an electron microscope is expected to minimize radiation damage and enhance contrast simultaneously so that it may offer a new route for protein 3D imaging as compared with the cryo-EM approach. The main goal of this proposed project is to design/manufacture a compact scanning transmission electron microscope for 3D protein reconstruction at room temperature. This compact electron microscope is equipped with four key components. 1) pulse electron gun to modulate the radiation damage 2) hollow cone illumination system to maximize contrast. 3) low Cs (~1mm) objective pole piece for 15keV-30keV to improve the resolution. 4) Cs/ Cc aberration corrector to improve spatial resolution. In our laboratory, a compact electron microscope has been built and officially announced in a press release on 21 April 2023. A pulse electron gun and Cs corrector have also been built and demonstrated under a mega project supported by Shenzhen government. In this proposed project, we develop 2) a hollow cone generator and 3) improve objective lens as well as 4) Cs/ Cc corrector. Ultimately, the designed electron microscope is expected to be operated at transmission mode to observe the three-dimensional structure of proteins and molecules, as well as at scanning mode to observe nanomaterials and for semiconductor and chip detection. There is no similar system found in the commercial market. In addition to providing an advanced update for the electron optics research community, our research results will be pushed for commercial market via a high-technology company in the future, which may create more employment opportunities for society in Hong KongDetail(s)
Project number | 9043713 |
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Grant type | GRF |
Status | Active |
Effective start/end date | 1/01/25 → … |