Project page: Near-Isotropic Sub-Ångstrom 3D Resolution Phase Contrast Imaging Achieved by End-to-End Ptychographic Electron Tomography

Github Code

Original Paper

Authors

Shengbo You

ORCID

Andrey Romanov

LinkedIn

Philipp M. Pelz

Google Scholar

Teaser

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Summary

We developed an end-to-end reconstruction algorithm that achieves near-isotropic sub-Ångstrom 3D resolution in electron microscopy by directly reconstructing sample volumes from 4D-STEM tilt series data. This represents a significant advancement in 3D atomic imaging capabilities.

Key Achievements

• Sub-Ångstrom Resolution: Achieved 0.82Å resolution in 3D with only \(5.2 × 10^4\, e/Å^2\)
• Low Dose Performance: Demonstrated successful reconstruction at 2.84Å 3D resolution with just \(2.21 × 10^4\, e/Å^2\) for the whole tilt series, which shows the potential of the method for high-resolution imaging with low electron dose
• Missing Wedge Compensation: The multi-slice model successfully recovered atomic structure information in conventionally inaccessible directions without additional hardware or prior knowledge about the sample
• Versatile Imaging: Demonstrated capability to image both heavy and light atoms in core-shell nanostructures in simulation
• Practical Implementation: Developed a robust initialization procedure and reconstruction sequence for experimental data

Applications

The method shows great promise for:

• Atomic-resolution 3D imaging of beam-sensitive materials
• Structural analysis of complex nanomaterials
• Potential future applications in biological imaging
• Materials science research requiring precise 3D atomic structure determination

Technical Innovation

The algorithm combines multi-slice ptychography with tomographic reconstruction in an end-to-end fashion, enabling direct volume reconstruction from 4D-STEM datasets while compensating for partial coherence effects and experimental misalignments.