Scientists capture the highest resolution image of atoms

The researchers broke the record for the highest resolution image taken by individual atoms, creating a shot that could be “zoomed” about 100 million times, and these images were precisely adjusted so that, in fact, only the sound remaining in the shot was a product of the atomic vibrations. The achievement of the Cornell University team is based on their previous record, which was recorded in 2018, which used a new inventor to triple the resolution of the electron microscope.

However, this previous structure was limited because it could only shoot very thin specimens, only thin specimens of atoms. But the introduction of the new Electron Microscopy Pixel Matrix Detector (EMPAD), which includes advanced 3D reconstruction algorithms, has made it possible to improve the process.

The panel explains that this results in a resolution at the level of a micrometer or an image with a third of a meter.

David Mல்லller, a writer and engineer at Cornell University in New York, said: “This is not a new record. He came to an organization that is the ultimate limit to accuracy. We can now very easily know where the atoms are. ”

He explained, “This opens up a lot of new scaling possibilities for things we’ve wanted to do for a very long time. It also solves a long-standing problem that prevents multiple scattering of the beam in the model, which has prevented this from happening in the past. ”

Individual atoms

The imaging method used by the team involves a technique called ptychography, in which the beam of electrons is shot repeatedly by a specific object, each time from a slightly different position.

By comparing the different overlapping shapes created by the scattered beams, the algorithm can reconstruct the target object with the utmost precision, and by looking at how the pattern changes, we can calculate the shape of the object that caused this pattern.

At the moment, the team acknowledges that the imaging system is time consuming and computationally demanding, but “Daily Mail” reports that advances in computers and future detectors will have the potential to speed up this process.