Electrons probe to subangstrom levels.

The article focuses on new development in the filed of electron microscopy. Images with a resolution of less than an angstrom were obtained from an electron microscope at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Steve Pennycook and other researchers incorporated advanced electron optics into a 300-kV Z-contrast scanning transmission electron microscope, which allowed them to image silicon with a resolution of 0.6 A. The ability to image down to the level of single atoms provides an opportunity to understand the factors controlling optical properties of nanostructures, interfaces, device junctions and grain boundaries.