Direct Imaging of Light Element using ABF-STEM

Abstract

Atomic structures of energy storage and intelligent materials are related to the functional properties. Spatial resolution of the transmission electron microscopy has been drastically improved by the development of a spherical aberration corrector. So far, annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy (ADF-STEM) has been applied to observe the atomic columns in the crystalline materials, but this method is not able to view the light element. On the other hand, annular bright field STEM (ABF-STEM) technique is able to view the light element, such as oxygen, nitrogen and lithium. In this study, hydrogen atomic columns in the several metal hydrides were tried to be observed by ABF-STEM technique.