4D multiple-cathode ultrafast electron microscopy

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1411650111
• Publication Date: 2014-07-09T06:32:15Z
• Authors: John Spencer Baskin; Haihua Liu; Ahmed H. Zewail
• Keywords: irreversible dynamics; 500; 02 engineering and technology; electron pulse generation; ultrafast imaging; 0210 nano-technology; 530

Significance Imaging of dynamical processes in materials and biological structures requires resolutions in both space and time. Four-dimensional electron microscopy was developed to image microscopic objects down to the atomic-scale spatial resolution and the femtosecond time resolution. Unlike stroboscopic techniques applied in studies of reversible processes on the femtosecond scale, single-pulse methods have been limited to the nanosecond scale for capturing irreversible processes such as materials phase transformations. In this contribution, we report on 4D multiple-cathode ultrafast electron microscopy, which enables the direct capture with femtosecond time resolution of phenomena at multiple times in their dynamics and in a single frame. The scope of applications is wide ranging.