Analytical areas of application for transmission electron microscopy
Transmission electron microscopy is a type of electron microscope that is widely used. It has the advantages of high resolution and can be used in conjunction with other techniques. It has been widely used in various research fields such as medicine and biology, and has become one of the important tools for histology, pathology, anatomy and clinical pathology diagnosis.
Application areas of transmission electron microscopy:
1. Material field
The microstructure of a material plays a decisive role in its mechanical, optical, electrical and other physical and chemical properties. As an important means of material characterization, transmission electron microscopy can not only use diffraction mode to study the structure of crystals, but also obtain high-resolution images of real space in imaging mode, that is, directly image atoms in the material and directly observe the microscopic structure of the material. structure.
2. Physics field
In the field of physics, electron holography can simultaneously provide amplitude and phase information of electron waves, making transmission electron microscopy widely used in studies of magnetic field and electric field distribution that are closely related to phase. At present, transmission electron microscopy combined with electron holography has been used to measure the electric field distribution of semiconductor multi-layer thin film structure devices and the magnetic domain distribution inside magnetic materials.
3. Chemical field
In the field of chemistry, in-situ transmission electron microscopy provides an important method for in-situ observation of gas and liquid phase chemical reactions due to its ultra-high spatial resolution. In-situ transmission electron microscopy is used to further understand the mechanism of chemical reactions and the transformation process of nanomaterials, in order to understand, regulate and design the synthesis of materials from the nature of chemical reactions. At present, in-situ electron microscopy technology has played an important role in the fields of material synthesis, chemical catalysis, energy applications and life sciences. Transmission electron microscopy can directly observe the morphology and structure of nanoparticles at extremely high magnification, and is one of the most commonly used characterization methods for nanomaterials.
4. Biological field
In the field of biology, X-ray crystallography technology and nuclear magnetic resonance are often used to study the structure of biological macromolecules. They have been able to determine the position of proteins with an accuracy of 0.2nm, but they each have limitations. X-ray crystallography technology is based on protein crystals and often studies the ground state structure of molecules, but is powerless to analyze the excited and transition states of molecules. Biological macromolecules often interact and form complexes in the body to perform their functions. The crystallization of these complexes is very difficult. Although NMR can obtain the structure of molecules in solution and study dynamic changes of molecules, it is mainly suitable for studying biological macromolecules with smaller molecular weights.
