Progress and problems for atomic-resolution electron microscopy

The performance of the high-resolution electron microscope has continued to evolve, with recent developments in hardware attachments enabling aberration correction to be directly achieved for both probe-corrected and image-corrected microscope geometries. Sub-Ångstrom resolution, once regarded as an unattainable dream, can nowadays be readily achieved with instruments that are being widely sold commercially. These instrumentation developments have played a central role in facilitating transformational advances in imaging (and analytical) capability, bringing both novel opportunities and fresh challenges for the electron microscopy community. This paper provides a short update of recent progress in atomic-resolution TEM and STEM imaging, and briefly discusses some of the associated issues and problems attracting close attention.

► Update of progress in atomic-resolution TEM and STEM imaging. ► Hardware attachments enable probe-corrected and image-corrected microscopes. ► Sub-Ångstrom resolution is readily achieved with commercially available instruments. ► Transformational advances bring novel opportunities and fresh challenges.