TOPICAL REVIEW: Present status and future prospects of spherical aberration corrected TEM/STEM for study of nanomaterials

The present status of Cs-corrected TEM/STEM is described from the viewpoint of the observation of nanomaterials. Characteristic features in TEM and STEM are explained using the experimental data obtained by our group and other research groups. Cs correction up to the 3rd-order aberration of an objective lens has already been established and research interest is focused on correcting the 5th-order spherical aberration and the chromatic aberration in combination with the development of a monochromator below an electron gun for smaller point-to-point resolution in optics. Another fundamental area of interest is the limitation of TEM and STEM resolution from the viewpoint of the scattering of electrons in crystals. The minimum size of the exit-wave function below samples undergoing TEM imaging is determined from the calculation of scattering around related atomic columns in the crystals. STEM does not have this limitation because the resolution is, in principle, determined by the probe size. One of the future prospects of Cs-corrected TEM/STEM is the possibility of extending the space around the sample holder by correcting the chromatic and spherical aberrations. This wider space will contribute to the ease of performing in situ experiments and various combinations of TEM and other analysis methods. High-resolution, in situ dynamic and 3D observations/analysis are the most important keywords in the next decade of high-resolution electron microscopy.

Invited paper.