2022 Volume 57 Issue 2 Pages 59-64
Single-molecule atomic-resolution time-resolved electron microcopy (SMART-EM) with a high-speed, high-resolution transmission electron microscope has ushered in the era of “cinematic molecular science,” in which the dynamic behavior of organic and inorganic molecules can be studied through real-time video images. High speed imaging without increase of electron dose results in very low electron dose per frame, which often causes a very low signal to noise ratio. We have established a method to improve the image quality optimized for SMART-EM by applying the Chambolle Total Variation denoising, which enables tracking of molecular motion with sub-millisecond temporal resolution and sub-angstrom localization precision. Herein we demonstrate in-situ observation of a nanomechanical shuttling motion of a single molecule and an atomic-level crystallization process as applications of the high-speed SMART-EM. We also introduce a new molecular model, atomic number correlated (ZC) molecular model, designed for spreading the microscopic molecular imaging to chemists who are still unfamiliar to electron microscopy.
