• Applied Microscopy
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• v.51
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• pp.19.1-19.7
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• 2021

The main purpose of this paper is the preparation of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) samples from the microsized powders of lithium-ion secondary batteries. To avoid artefacts during TEM sample preparation, the use of ion slicer milling for thinning and maintaining the intrinsic structure is described. Argon-ion milling techniques have been widely examined to make optimal specimens, thereby making TEM analysis more reliable. In the past few years, the correction of spherical aberration (Cs) in scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) has been developing rapidly, which results in direct observation at an atomic level resolution not only at a high acceleration voltage but also at a deaccelerated voltage. In particular, low-kV application has markedly increased, which requires a sufficiently transparent specimen without structural distortion during the sample preparation process. In this study, sample preparation for high-resolution STEM observation is accomplished, and investigations on the crystal integrity are carried out by Cs-corrected STEM.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.105-112
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• 2005

In this review, the important ideas of coherence theory are introduced. The transfer function and damping envelopes of the microscope due to temporal and spatial coherence are described. The passbands and the condition of Scherzer focus are also disscussed in associated with the resolution of transmission electron microscope.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.265-274
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• 1999

The microstructure of Cu thin films in various deposition conditions was characterized. Cr films (50 nm thick) and Cu films (500 or 1000 nm thick) were deposited on polyimide films by DC magnetron sputtering. The Ar pressure during Cu deposition was controlled to 5, 50 and 100 mtorr. The microstructure was characterized using conventional and high resolution SEM and TEM. As sputtering pressure increases, open boundaries are observed more frequently. The Cu film deposited at 5 mtorr has a dense and uniform structure, while low-density regions or open boundaries between columns exist in the film deposited at higher pressure. As the film grows thicker, open boundaries are wider and the density of open boundaries are higher. The comparison between SEM and TEM show that the small features shown in high resolution SEM are grains. High resolution SEM is very effective to characterize the microstructure of the thin films. One column in the films deposited at 50 and 100 mtorr consists of several grains, which are smaller than those deposited at 5 mtorr.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2006

In this review, the important ideas of coherence theory are introduced. The transfer function and damping envelopes of the microscope due to temporal and spatial coherence are described. The passbands and the condition of Scherzer focus are discussed in associated with the resolution of transmission electron microscope. The characterization of coherence is also described.

• Polymer Science and Technology
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.765-772
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• 1996

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.32 no.8
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• pp.345-353
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• 2022

In this study, using deep learning, super-resolution images of transmission electron microscope (TEM) images were generated for nanomaterial analysis. 1169 paired images with 256 × 256 pixels (high resolution: HR) from TEM measurements and 32 × 32 pixels (low resolution: LR) produced using the python module openCV were trained with deep learning models. The TEM images were related to DyVO₄ nanomaterials synthesized by hydrothermal methods. Mean-absolute-error (MAE), peak-signal-to-noise-ratio (PSNR), and structural similarity (SSIM) were used as metrics to evaluate the performance of the models. First, a super-resolution image (SR) was obtained using the traditional interpolation method used in computer vision. In the SR image at low magnification, the shape of the nanomaterial improved. However, the SR images at medium and high magnification failed to show the characteristics of the lattice of the nanomaterials. Second, to obtain a SR image, the deep learning model includes a residual network which reduces the loss of spatial information in the convolutional process of obtaining a feature map. In the process of optimizing the deep learning model, it was confirmed that the performance of the model improved as the number of data increased. In addition, by optimizing the deep learning model using the loss function, including MAE and SSIM at the same time, improved results of the nanomaterial lattice in SR images were achieved at medium and high magnifications. The final proposed deep learning model used four residual blocks to obtain the characteristic map of the low-resolution image, and the super-resolution image was completed using Upsampling2D and the residual block three times.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.50
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• pp.21.1-21.3
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• 2020

Sample preparation is significantly important to the high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) characterization of nanomaterials. However, many general organic solvents can dissolve the necessary organic polymer support layer in TEM grid, which causes it difficult to obtain high-quality samples of oil-soluble nanomaterials. In this study, a new sample preparation method for oil-soluble nanomaterials has been developed by using the sublimable material as a transition layer. Experiments also show that there is no damage to TEM grids and high-quality HRTEM images can be obtained via this method. This approach paves the way to applicable HRTEM sample preparation of oil-soluble nanomaterials.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.130-135
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• 2012

We present a method of graphene synthesis with high thickness uniformity using the thermal chemical vapor deposition (TCVD) technique; we demonstrate its application to a grid supporting membrane using transmission electron microscope (TEM) observation, particularly for nanomaterials that have smaller dimensions than the pitch of commercial grid mesh. Graphene was synthesized on electron-beam-evaporated Ni catalytic thin films. Methane and hydrogen gases were used as carbon feedstock and dilution gas, respectively. The effects of synthesis temperature and flow rate of feedstock on graphene structures have been investigated. The most effective condition for large area growth synthesis and high thickness uniformity was found to be $1000^{\circ}C$ and 5 sccm of methane. Among the various applications of the synthesized graphenes, their use as a supporting membrane of a TEM grid has been demonstrated; such a grid is useful for high resolution TEM imaging of nanoscale materials because it preserves the same focal plane over the whole grid mesh. After the graphene synthesis, we were able successfully to transfer the graphenes from the Ni substrates to the TEM grid without a polymeric mediator, so that we were able to preserve the clean surface of the as-synthesized graphene. Then, a drop of carbon nanotube (CNT) suspension was deposited onto the graphene-covered TEM grid. Finally, we performed high resolution TEM observation and obtained clear image of the carbon nanotubes, which were deposited on the graphene supporting membrane.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.107-107
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• 2012

Recently, large-area synthesis of high-quality but polycrystalline graphene has been advanced as a scalable route to applications including electronic devices. The presence of grain boundaries (GBs) may be detrimental on some electronic, thermal, and mechanical properties of graphene, including reduced electronic mobility, lower thermal conductivity, and reduced ultimate mechanical strength, yet on the other hand, GBs might be beneficially exploited via controlled GB engineering. The study of graphene grains and their boundary is therefore critical for a complete understanding of this interesting material and for enabling diverse applications. I present that scanning electron diffraction in STEM mode makes possible fast and direct identification of GBs. We also demonstrate that dark field TEM imaging techniques allow facile GB imaging for high-angle tilt GBs in graphene. GB mapping is systematically carried out on large-area graphene samples via these complementary techniques. The study of the detailed atomic structure at a GB in suspended graphene uses aberration-corrected atomic resolution TEM at a low kV.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.9
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• pp.1287-1292
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• 2013

Extracellular biogenic synthesis of silver nanoparticles with various shapes using the rice bacterial blight bacterium Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae BXO8 is reported. The synthesized silver nanoparticles were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). Based on the evidence of HR-TEM, the synthesized particles were found to be spherical, with anisotropic structures such as triangles and rods, with an average size of 14.86 nm. The crystalline nature of silver nanoparticles was evident from the bright circular spots in the SAED pattern, clear lattice fringes in the high-resolution TEM images, and peaks in the XRD pattern. The FTIR spectrum showed that biomolecules containing amide and carboxylate groups are involved in the reduction and stabilization of the silver nanoparticles. Using such a biological method for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles is a simple, viable, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly process, which can be used in antimicrobial therapy.