Speaker
Description
In-situ transmission electron microscopy (in-situ TEM) is a powerful technique to observe a wide variety of phenomena that occur at the nanoscale. In-situ TEM experiments can use various stimuli, such as heating, biasing, tensioning, lighting, gas, liquid, cryo, and magnetic fields. With these stimuli, researchers have investigated particle agglomeration, oxidation and reduction, and electrodeposition.
One challenge of in-situ TEM is that it requires expensive and highly specialized TEM, which can limit its accessibility. However, recent advances in technology have made it possible to develop more affordable and user-friendly in-situ TEM systems, particularly with micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) chip development. With MEMS chip with special holder, anyone can perform in-situ experiment at conventional TEM and get reliable and repeatable results. As these systems become more widely available, researchers can expect to see even more breakthroughs in the field of nanotechnology.
In-situ TEM enables the recording of the process from beginning to end, but a large amount of data is generated (e.g., thousands of images), which can be challenging to process. Image processing techniques can analyze this huge data quite efficiently. For example, particle segmentation enables the tracking of the size and number of particles during in-situ TEM experiments. Furthermore, image processing can improve the data quality which was affected by results from in-situ experiments, such as uneven illumination. Image processing is not only fancy but also necessary tool for in-depth understanding on in-situ TEM.
Overall, in-situ TEM is an incredibly powerful tool that can help researchers overcome the bottleneck caused by a lack of knowledge. By using this technique, researchers can gain a better understanding of various processes that occur at the nanoscale and develop new and improved materials and devices. Combined with image processing, even more valuable information can be extracted. Therefore, in-situ TEM is an essential tool used by researchers around the world to advance our understanding of the nanoscale world.
References
Chem. Phys. Rev. 3, 031303 (2022)
Chemical Communications 58 (19), 3130-3133
| Keywords | In-situ transmission electron microscopy, TEM, MEMS, image processing |
|---|
