Scientists can now reliably chill specimens near absolute zero for over 10 hours while taking images resolved to the level of individual atoms with an electron microscope.
Scientists can now reliably chill specimens near absolute zero for over 10 hours while taking images resolved to the level of individual atoms with an electron microscope.
The new capability comes from a liquid-helium-cooled sample holder designed by a team of scientists and engineers at the University of Michigan and Harvard University, whose work was federally funded by the Department of Energy and National Science Foundation.
Conventional instruments can usually maintain such an extreme temperature, about -423 degrees Fahrenheit or 36 degrees above absolute zero, for a few minutes, capping out at a few hours. But longer periods of time are needed to take atomic-resolution images of candidate materials for advanced technologies.
Read more at: University of Michigan
Robert Hovden, an associate professor of materials science and engineering, describes how an upgraded cryo-electron microscope works at the Michigan Center for Materials Characterization. (Photo Credit: Eric Shaw, Office of the Vice President for Research)
