Effective object planes for aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy

In aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy, the image contrast depends sensitively on the focus value. With the point resolution extended to an information limit of below 0.1 nm, even a focus change of as small as one nanometer could give a significant change in image contrast. Therefore, it is necessary to consider in detail the optimum focus condition in order to take full advantage of aberration-correction. In this study, the thickness dependence of the minimum contrast focus has been investigated by dynamical image simulations for amorphous model structures of carbon, germanium, and tungsten, which were constructed by molecular dynamics simulations. The calculation results show that the minimum contrast focus varies with the object thickness, supporting the use of an effective object plane close to the midplane instead of the exit plane of a sample, as suggested by Bonhomme and Beorchia [J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 16, 705 (1983)] and Lentzen [Microscopy and Microanalysis 12, 191 (2006)]. Thus supported particles and wedge-shaped crystals with symmetrical top and bottom surfaces could be imaged at a focus condition independent of the uneven bottom face. Image simulations of crystalline samples as a function of focus and thickness show: for an object thickness of less than 10 nm, the optimum focus condition is matched better if the midplane of the object, instead of the exit plane, is chosen as reference plane.

► Stringent focus condition is required for aberration-corrected TEM. ► Optimum focus should be set with respect to the midplane of a sample. ► The focus condition could be independent of the lateral position on a wedged sample.