Application areas of analytical transmission electron microscopy
1. Materials field
The microstructure of materials plays a decisive role in their mechanical, optical, electrical, and other physical and chemical properties. As an important means of material characterization, transmission electron microscopy can not only use diffraction modes to study the structure of crystals, but also obtain high-resolution images of real space in imaging mode, which directly images the atoms in the material and observes the microstructure of the material.
2. In the field of physics
In the field of physics, electron holography can provide both amplitude and phase information of electron waves, making transmission electron microscopy widely used in research closely related to phase, such as magnetic and electric field distribution. At present, transmission electron microscopy combined with electron holography has been applied in measuring the electric field distribution of semiconductor multilayer 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-phase and liquid-phase chemical reactions due to its ultra-high spatial resolution. By utilizing in situ transmission electron microscopy, we aim to further understand the mechanisms of chemical reactions and the transformation processes of nanomaterials, with the goal of comprehending, regulating, and designing material synthesis from the essence of chemical reactions. At present, in-situ electron microscopy technology has played an important role in 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 commonly used characterization methods for nanomaterials.
4. Biological field
In the field of biology, X-ray crystallography and nuclear magnetic resonance are commonly used to study the structure of biomolecules, and have been able to determine the positional accuracy of proteins to 0.2 nm, but each has its 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. Biomacromolecules often interact and form complexes in the body to exert their effects, and the crystallization of these complexes is very difficult. Although nuclear magnetic resonance can obtain the structure of molecules in solution and study their dynamic changes, it is mainly suitable for studying biomolecules with smaller molecular weights.
