Scientists revolutionize microscopy by reimagining the logic of imaging
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> New method significantly reduces the time and damaging radiation used to image fragile specimens
> Date:
> August 2, 2024
> Source:
> Trinity College Dublin
> Summary:
> Scientists have devised an innovative imaging method using state-of-the-art microscopes
> that significantly reduces the time and radiation required.
> Their work represents a significant breakthrough that will benefit several disciplines,
> from materials science to medicine, as the method promises to deliver improved
> imaging for sensitive materials such as biological tissues that are especially
> vulnerable to damage.
>
> And chips?
The paper claims "Giving microscopists the ability to 'blank' or 'shutter' the electron beam on and off in a matter of nanoseconds in response to real-time events has never been done before."
It isn't true. The stroboscopic electron microscopes that Cambridge Instruments sold from about 1983 as electron beam testers could deliver a half-nanosecond wide pulse of electrons.
The electron beam microfabrictors we'd been selling for year could turn the beam on and off in less than 10nsec - I worked on the beam-blankers for both.
Scanning transmission microscopes do use higher voltage electrons, but that just means that the electrodes that blank the beam have to be longer. With a half nanosecond wide pulse, you couldn't make the plates too long for 2kV electrons because the transit time got longer than the blanking period and I had to invent a solution to get around that, but "a matter of nanoseconds" give you more wiggle-room.