In a new study, a team of researchers at the University of Arizona has described the development of a microscope that can measure the speed of an electron.
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The new research was published in the journal Science Advances and describes the development of an attosecond electron microscope, a microscope that uses direct electron beams that pass through the target object instead of typical camera sensors that capture visible light. Researchers transmit these electrons in pulses, and the faster a pulse moves through an object, the higher the resolution. In addition, camera sensors capture the interaction between the electrons and the target sample.
All of the above data is used to create the final result images. However, ultrafast electron microscopes work by releasing a train of electrons in a few attoseconds, or one trillionth of a second. Each of these pulses of electrons is best thought of as frames per second (FPS) in a movie or video game. Until now, researchers have been unable to capture the response of the electron as it passes through the sample between each FPS, limiting the overall resolution possible.
However, the University of Arizona research team created a single attsecond electron pulse that moves at the same speed as an electron, essentially synchronizing the microscope to the speed of an electron, increasing the overall resolution of the microscope and the display of parts of the electron that were previously invisible.
“Improving the temporal resolution in electron microscopes has been long awaited and is the focus of many research groups – because we all want to see the electron movement,” said Hassan. “These movements take place in attoseconds. But now, with our electron transmission microscope – we call it attomicroscopy – we can achieve a temporal resolution in the attosecond range for the first time. For the first time, we can see parts of the electron in motion.“
