In Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy Study of Bubble Behavior Near the Surface of Ice Crystals by Using a Liquid Cell With a Peltier Cooling Holder.

Liquid cell transmission electron microscopy (LC-TEM) is a unique technique that permits in situ observations of various phenomena in liquids with high spatial and temporal resolutions. One difficulty with this technique is the control of the environmental conditions in the observation area. Control of the temperature ranging from room temperature to minus several tens of degrees Celsius, is desirable for controlling the supersaturation in various materials and for observing crystallization more easily.

electron tomography for the thermally activated solid reaction of anaerobic nanoparticles.

The nanoscale characterization of thermally activated solid reactions plays a pivotal role in products manufactured by nanotechnology. Recently, observation in transmission electron microscopy combined with electron tomography, namely four-dimensional observation for heat treatment of nanomaterials, has attracted great interest. However, because most nanomaterials are highly reactive, , oxidation during transfer and electron beam irradiation would likely cause fatal artefacts; it is challenging to perform the artifact-free four-dimensional observation.

Novel -75°C SEM cooling stage: application for martensitic transformation in steel.

Microstructural changes during the martensitic transformation from face-centred cubic (FCC) to body-centred cubic (BCC) in an Fe-31Ni alloy were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with a newly developed Peltier stage available at temperatures to  -75°C. Electron channelling contrast imaging (ECCI) was utilized for the in situ observation during cooling. Electron backscatter diffraction analysis at ambient temperature (20°C) after the transformation was performed for the crystallographic characterization.

Electron tomography imaging methods with diffraction contrast for materials research.

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) enable the visualization of three-dimensional (3D) microstructures ranging from atomic to micrometer scales using 3D reconstruction techniques based on computed tomography algorithms. This 3D microscopy method is called electron tomography (ET) and has been utilized in the fields of materials science and engineering for more than two decades. Although atomic resolution is one of the current topics in ET research, the development and deployment of intermediate-resolution (non-atomic-resolution) ET imaging methods have garnered considerable attention from researchers.

Development of a three-dimensional tomography holder for in situ tensile deformation for soft materials.

An in situ straining holder capable of tensile deformation and high-angle tilt for electron tomography was developed for polymeric materials. The holder has a dedicated sample cartridge, on which a variety of polymeric materials, such as microtomed thin sections of bulk specimens and solvent-cast thin films, can be mounted. Fine, stable control of the deformation process with nanoscale magnification was achieved.

Three-dimensional visualization of dislocations in a ferromagnetic material by magnetic-field-free electron tomography.

In conventional transmission electron microscopy, specimens to be observed are placed in between the objective lens pole piece and therefore exposed to a strong magnetic field about 2 T. For a ferromagnetic specimen, magnetization of the specimen causes isotropic and anisotropic defocusing, deflection of the electron beam as well as deformation of the specimen, which all become more severe when the specimen tilted. Therefore electron tomography on a ferromagnetic crystalline specimen is highly challenging because tilt-series data sets must be acquired without changing the excitation condition of a specific diffraction spot.