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Atomic Scale Viewing Available With New Microscopy Techniques
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Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a microscopy technique that takes into consideration movement of atoms and eliminates distortion from the finished image captured. Researchers have long known that when attempting to capture an image on an atomic scale, minute movements from the sample will result in either a distorted image or a skewed result, or both. Add to that that it is virtually impossible to prevent the movements and the challenge faced by researchers increases.
One of the technologies that researchers use is a scanning transmission electron microscope (TEM) and these devices are capable of capturing an image of the individual atoms in a specimen. In order to capture images of moving atoms the researchers have a probe that scans the area to be viewed, the sample rests on a support rod and during the scanning process the rod will expand or contract in relation to changes in the ambient temperature. While the expansion and contraction of the rod is not visible to the naked eye, the movement of the rod can lead to a distortion in the scanned TEM image.
The technique developed by the researchers at NC State can effectively eliminate the effect of drift (the expansion and contraction of the rod) during the scanning process. The way their design works is to capture images from four directions to capture the drift distortion and view it from different vantage points. Once the scans are complete, scientists can put the images into a specialized program that has been developed to measure the image’s features and the information is quantified and adjustments made to remove any distortion.
This is a boon to researchers that have been struggling to capture images that can accurately represent the structure of a sample and understand the “bonding between atoms.” One of the researchers was quoted as saying, “Historically, a major problem with drift has been that you need to have a reference material in any nanoscale image, so that you can tell how the image has been distorted… This technique makes that unnecessary… we can now look at a completely unknown sample and discover its crystalline structures.” This, researchers say is a critical step in helping them control a material’s physical properties.
Universe Optics manufactures standard and custom lens assemblies for scanners, CCTV, CCD/CMOS, medical imaging, surveillance systems, machine vision and night vision systems.