This event will be taking place between
Tuesday 1 March - Wednesday 2 March 2022
13:00 - 20:20 GMT | 14:00 - 21:20 CET | 08:00 - 15:20 EST
Online
Tuesday 1 March
13:05 – 13:45 GMT
Invited Speaker: Utkur Mirsaidov - Visualizing Bottom-up and Top-down Formation of Nanomaterials in Liquids with Transmission Electron Microscopy
13:45 – 14:25 GMT
Invited Speaker: Liane G. Benning - Bio-Geo-Material Interfaces on Earth Sciences
Invited Speaker: Liane G. Benning - Bio-Geo-Material Interfaces on Earth Sciences
Invited Speaker
Fluid-mineral-microbe interfacial processes control all biogeochemical element cycles on Earth. Being able to follow dynamic (bio)mineral nucleation, growth or transformation reactions through high-resolution microscopic and spectroscopic methods helps us to improve our fundamental knowledge about what controls interactions during phase (trans)formation. Based on nanoscale observations on various Earth materials (incl. iron oxides, carbonates and sulphates) I will show how we validate and constrain reaction pathways most often inferred from empirical observations of natural geologic processes and how such nanoscale studies helps us model local to global scale element cycles.Speakers
Liane G. Benning
14:25 – 14:30 GMT
Techno Bite: Jeol, JEM-F200 and SerialEM – a robust STEM tomography platform
14:30 – 14:35 GMT
Techno Bite: Thermo Fisher Scientific, Cryo-Dual Beam sample preparation – current state of technology and opportunities for life and material sciences
14:40 – 14:45 GMT
Poster Session: Igor Meglinkski - Hemorheology of erythrocytes influenced by plasmonic nanoparticles assessed with the combined application of optical tweezers and conventional microscopy modalities
14:45 – 14:50 GMT
Poster Session: Botao Hao - Electron ptychographic imaging of polyvinyl alcohol ordering
14:50 – 14:55 GMT
Poster Session: Maarten Bransen - From Cryo to Crystal: Using 3D cryo-TEM to measure nanoparticle interactions during self-assembly in emulsion droplets
14:55 – 15:00 GMT
Poster Session: Diana Pinakova - Ex-situ study of the formation of CeO2 mesocrystals
15:00 – 15:05 GMT
Poster Session: C. Micheletti - Resolving the Bone-Bacteria Interface in Bisphosphonate-Related Osteonecrosis of the Jaw
15:05 – 15:10 GMT
Techno Bite, Oxford Instruments NanoAnalysis, Characterising biomaterial and tissue interactions using multi-colour electron microscopy
15:10 – 15:50 GMT
Invited Speaker: Stig Helveg - Imaging chemical processes at the atomic-scale
17:30 – 18:10 GMT
Invited Speaker: Ulrich Lorenz - Towards Microsecond Time-Resolved Cryo-Electron Microscopy
Invited Speaker: Ulrich Lorenz - Towards Microsecond Time-Resolved Cryo-Electron Microscopy
Invited Speaker
Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is rapidly becoming the dominant method in structural biology. However, with a time resolution of several milliseconds, it is frequently too slow to observe proteins in action, whose relevant dynamics typically occur on the microsecond timescale. This leaves our understanding of these nanoscale machines fundamentally incomplete. We have recently demonstrated a novel approach to time-resolved cryo-EM that is 1000 times faster, affording a time resolution of just a few microseconds. Our method involves melting a cryo sample in situ with a laser beam for a duration of tens of microseconds. This allows dynamics of the embedded particles to occur in liquid once a suitable stimulus is provided, for example by releasing a caged compound. While the dynamics occur, the heating laser is switched off at a well-defined point in time, causing the sample to rapidly recool, so that it vitrifies and traps the particles in their transient configurations, in which they can subsequently be imaged. I will describe initial results that demonstrate the viability of the concept. I will also discuss new avenues that our technique opens up for the study of the fast dynamics of proteins.Speakers
Ulrich Lorenz
18:10 – 18:50 GMT
Invited Speaker: Penghan Lu - Dose- and sampling- efficient electron phase contrast imaging
19:00 – 19:40 GMT
Invited Speaker: Lucy Collinson - volume CLEM: Bigger, better, faster, more...
19:40 – 20:20 GMT
Invited Speaker: Elisabeth Villa - Opening Windows into the Cell: Bringing Structure to Cell Biology using Cryo-Electron Tomography
Wednesday 2 March
13:05 – 13:45 GMT
Invited Speaker: Martial Duchamp - Operando and in situ in a TEM imaging in a cryogenic temperature range
13:45 – 14:25 GMT
Invited Speaker: Katherine Jungjohann - Nanoscale Electrode Interfaces Revealed with Cryo-Electron Microscopy
Invited Speaker: Katherine Jungjohann - Nanoscale Electrode Interfaces Revealed with Cryo-Electron Microscopy
Invited Speaker
An interfacial understanding is necessary for developing strategies to commercialize high-energy density rechargeable lithium metal anode batteries, as currently, the lithium anode/electrolyte interface is unstable with prolonged cycling. We have used several strategies to improve the cycling performance of lithium metal anodes, including reducing the parasitic reactions between lithium metal and the electrolyte, and improving the electrodeposited lithium metal morphology. These strategies have generated unconclusive electrochemical data, that has required the need for nanoscale interfacial characterization of these solid-liquid interfaces. Our team has used the cryogenic transfer workflow developed by Leica in collaboration with cryo-SEM/FIB tools by Thermo Fisher Scientific to cross-section lithium metal anodes and intact coin cell batteries to observe the interfacial structures, lithium morphology, and failure mechanisms relative to changes in electrode contract pressure and electrolyte chemistry. Cross-sectional SEM images and EDS maps of the lithium metal anodes have provided a better understanding of the electrodeposited lithium morphology, quantity of ‘dead’ lithium metal, and quantity of solid electrolyte interphase material that has formed alongside the lithium metal. In understanding lithium metal battery failure at the system level, we used a cryogenic stage in a laser plasma FIB to cross-section through the coin cell’s cap for imaging/mapping the entire battery stack under cryogenic conditions. The tools, methods, and results of these studies will be detailed in this presentation.Speakers
Katherine Jungjohann
14:30 – 14:35 GMT
Techno Bite: Gatan, Low Dose, Low Temperature Imaging of Beam Sensitive Battery Materials
14:40 – 14:45 GMT
Poster Session: Alexi L. Pauls - Cryo-SEM Analysis of a Gel-like State of Nickel Hydroxide Created by Electrochemical Aging
14:45 – 14:50 GMT
Poster Session: Dan Ralf Wargulski - Temperature-dependent growth of PbI2 platelets at the surfaces of triple-halide perovskite films
14:50 – 14:55 GMT
Poster Session: Yi Yang - Ag nanoparticles prepared using ionomer as a size regulator and their catalytic performance for oxygen reduction reaction
14:55 – 15:00 GMT
Poster Session: Hannes Zschiesche - Controlling the CeO2 crystallization pathway in nanoscale Liquid-phase TEM – Comparison to GammaCell
15:00 – 15:05 GMT
Poster Session: Mahdi Ayoubi - Iodine vapor staining reveals the unmineralized-mineralized interfaces in bone tissue facilitating osteocyte network tomography with FIB-SEM
15:10 – 15:50 GMT
Invited Speaker: Robert Thorne, Physical Aspects of Sample Preparation for Single-Particle Cryo-EM
17:30 – 18:10 GMT
Invited Speaker: Andrew Minor - 4D-STEM of soft materials
Invited Speaker: Andrew Minor - 4D-STEM of soft materials
Invited Speaker
This talk will highlight recent advances in direct imaging of polymer structure via 4D-STEM (nanobeam diffraction imaging). Through the development of fast direct electron detectors, it is now possible to acquire large multidimensional diffraction data sets that can map local structural order and strain with nanometer precision, even during in situ nanomechanical testing. The method is widely applicable and examples will be given from systems such as organic semiconductor molecular thin films, nanoparticles and even nominally amorphous samples. This talk will describe our recent results that demonstrate the first simultaneous cryogenic 4D-STEM mapping of amorphous and crystalline structure at an interface in a semicrystalline polymer blend using a single low-dose data acquisition. Lastly, recent developments in fast direct electron detector technology and algorithm development promise to increase the throughput, ease of use and widespread applicability of 4D-STEM.Speakers
Andrew Minor
18:10 – 18:50 GMT
Invited Speaker: Miaofang Chi - Assessing LN2 Cooled Cryogenic Stages for Atomic Resolution and 4D-STEM Imaging
Invited Speaker: Miaofang Chi - Assessing LN2 Cooled Cryogenic Stages for Atomic Resolution and 4D-STEM Imaging
Invited Speaker
Many energy and quantum materials require characterizations at a low temperature (T). Recent advancements in Cryogenic scanning transmission electron microscopy (Cryo-STEM) are opening new opportunities for related research areas. For example, exotic states in quantum materials usually only occur at low T and lithium metal. The solid electrolyte interphase layers in battery materials are susceptible to electron-irradiation-induced heating. The largest challenge for in situ cryogenic (cryo)-STEM is currently the limited thermal and mechanical stabilities of the stage, making atomic-resolution imaging at low/intermediate temperatures difficult. Achieving sufficient stability is more challenging for cryo-4D-STEM, where longer acquisition times are needed than STEM imaging using a conventional detector. Thanks to the recent efforts on holder development from several manufacturers, significant improvements have been made. In this presentation, I will summarize our assessments of three different cooling stages regarding their stability at the base and intermediate temperatures, accessible temperature ranges, and integrated additional in situ capabilities. Their applications in atomic resolution and 4D-STEM imaging for energy and quantum materials will be demonstrated using several model material systems.Speakers
Miaofang Chi
19:00 – 19:40 GMT
Invited Speaker: Berit Goodge - Cryogenic EELS at the atomic scale
Invited Speaker: Berit Goodge - Cryogenic EELS at the atomic scale
Invited Speaker
The functional and sometimes exotic properties of all materials – from atomically engineered designer heterostructures to human tooth enamel – can be traced back to the fundamental structures and interactions of their constituent atoms. Electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) in the scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) is a powerful tool to directly probe local variations in elemental concentration as well as chemical bonding and charge distribution within precisely engineered heterostructures and across heterointerfaces. In many quantum material systems, these electronic order parameters can often be tuned or accessed only at low temperatures well below the ambient operating conditions typical for high-resolution STEM. In other materials, cryogenic sample cooling can mitigate contamination, reduce the impact of radiation damage, or stabilize vitrified soft or liquid systems. Extending EELS measurements to in situ cryogenic conditions thus opens the door to new experimental possibilities for both organic and inorganic systems. The practical realities of in situ experiments (namely, thermal drift and other mechanical instabilities associated with side-entry cooling holders), however, pose key challenges for reliable atomic-resolution cryogenic EELS measurements. In particular, the total acquisition time must be reduced without sacrificing data quality to retain atomic-scale information which is simultaneously suitable for extracting subtle chemical changes from spectral fine-structure. With new analysis approaches and ongoing instrumentation developments, including flexible in situ cryogenic sample stages, more sensitive detectors, and higher brightness electron sources, we are pushing EELS capabilities to new limits to better explore the connections between atomic-scale structure, charge, and function.Speakers
Berit Goodge
19:40 – 20:20 GMT
Invited Speaker: Mark Oxley - Denoising Electron Energy Loss Spectra using Convolutional Autoencoders
Invited Speaker: Mark Oxley - Denoising Electron Energy Loss Spectra using Convolutional Autoencoders
Invited Speaker
Electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) is a powerful tool for examining elemental composition and local bonding information the scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM). As electron probes have become smaller, with a corresponding decrease in the illuminated volume, the signal to noise ratio (SNR) of atomic resolution EELS becomes an issue. This is due to the low cross sections for core-shell ionization, especially for higher energy ionization events. While in some cases it may be possible to increase the dwell times at each probe position, in general this results in damage to the specimen. This is particularly the case is defects and impurities exist, both features which are of particular interest in many materials systems. In this talk we will examine the denoising of STEM EELS data using convolutional autoencoders.
Perhaps the most common approach to denoising EELS data is principal component analysis (PCA) which represents the 3-dimensional data set as a weighted sum of orthogonal components. It is generally assumed that the components that are most common (i.e. more heavily weighted) represent the signal of interest, while less common components are assume to be related to random noise. By removing these lower weighted components, the aim is to produce “cleaned” spectra which are more easily interpreted. However less common components can also be due to isolated defects or impurities, or even interfaces. It is the EELS signal around these features that are usually of most interest.
An alternative approach for denoising data is the use of convolutional autoencoders (CA) which has been demonstrated in a number of different contexts. In this talk we will demonstrate their use on both simulate and experimental EELS data. An essential step in the use of CAs is the development of a suitable training set. This set must represent all the features observed in the dataset. We will demonstrate the pitfalls of this approach if the training set is poorly chosen. While we will use a simulated data set to generate our training data, other more general approaches will be discussed.
This effort (ML and STEM) is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences (BES), Materials Sciences and Engineering Division (M.P.O., S.V.K.) and was performed and partially supported (M.Z.) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS), a U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science User Facility.
Speakers
Mark Oxley
