Microscopy Conference 2023

Mapping local phonon modes in silicon grain boundaries at atomic resolution

IM 2: Spectroscopy

Aberration correctors, electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) are nowadays indispensable tools for obtaining atomic-scale information of chemical composition and bonding in materials. Not only can material phases be identified, but important effects such as interdiffusion between phases, or charge ordering, to name but a few, can be studied. In the past decade, in EELS low energy losses were intensively used to identify surface plasmons in nanomaterials, even in a tomographic approach. This was made possible by the implementation of electron monochromators into the electron gun. Recent technological advances have opened the energy-loss window into the sub-10 meV regime where a range of new phenomena can now be studied. These include phonons, low-energy plasmons, and possibly many more low-energy excitations in materials. The wealth of information generates new grand challenges in understanding and modelling the underlying fundamentals of signal generation and intelligent processing of large data sets. Contributions are invited on hardware and technique developments, theory and simulation, data processing as well as applications covering both physical and biological sciences.

Tara Boland

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