<title>Phase object visualization at Bragg acousto-optic interaction</title>

A number of computing systems devoted to the averaging of electron images of two-dimensional macromolecular crystalline arrays have facilitated the visualization of negatively-stained biological structures. Either by simulation of optical filtering techniques or, in more refined treatments, by cross-correlation averaging, an idealized representation of the repeating asymmetric structure unit is constructed, eliminating image distortions due to radiation damage, stain irregularities and, in the latter approach, imperfections and distortions in the unit cell repeat. In these analyses it is generally assumed that the electron scattering from the thin negativelystained object is well-approximated by a phase object model. Even when absorption effects are considered (i.e. “amplitude contrast“), the expansion of the transmission function, q(x,y)=exp (iσɸ (x,y)), does not exceed the first (kinematical) term. Furthermore, in reconstruction of electron images, kinematical phases are applied to diffraction amplitudes and obey the constraints of the plane group symmetry.

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Object Wave Determination by Single-Sideband Methods

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100071776 ◽

1973 ◽

Vol 31 ◽

pp. 266-267

Author(s):

Kenneth H. Downing ◽

Benjamin M. Siegel

Keyword(s):

Phase Shift ◽

Carbon Films ◽

Object Wave ◽

Electron Wave ◽

Phase Object ◽

Heavy Atoms ◽

Single Sideband ◽

Thin Carbon ◽

Additional Phase Shift ◽

Additional Phase

Under the “weak phase object” approximation, the component of the electron wave scattered by an object is phase shifted by π/2 with respect to the unscattered component. This phase shift has been confirmed for thin carbon films by many experiments dealing with image contrast and the contrast transfer theory. There is also an additional phase shift which is a function of the atomic number of the scattering atom. This shift is negligible for light atoms such as carbon, but becomes significant for heavy atoms as used for stains for biological specimens. The light elements are imaged as phase objects, while those atoms scattering with a larger phase shift may be imaged as amplitude objects. There is a great deal of interest in determining the complete object wave, i.e., both the phase and amplitude components of the electron wave leaving the object.

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A Simple Real-Space Channelling Theory for Electron Diffraction and HREM

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100179075 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 48 (1) ◽

pp. 64-65

Author(s):

D. Van Dyck

Keyword(s):

High Resolution ◽

Electron Diffraction ◽

Direct Method ◽

Real Space ◽

Zone Axis ◽

Phase Object ◽

High Resolution Images ◽

The Many ◽

Analytical Expressions ◽

Electron Wavefunction

The computation of the many beam dynamical electron diffraction amplitudes or high resolution images can only be done numerically by using rather sophisticated computer programs so that the physical insight in the diffraction progress is often lost. Furthermore, it is not likely that in this way the inverse problem can be solved exactly, i.e. to reconstruct the structure of the object from the knowledge of the wavefunction at its exit face, as is needed for a direct method [1]. For this purpose, analytical expressions for the electron wavefunction in real or reciprocal space are much more useful. However, the analytical expressions available at present are relatively poor approximations of the dynamical scattering which are only valid either for thin objects ((weak) phase object approximation, thick phase object approximation, kinematical theory) or when the number of beams is very limited (2 or 3). Both requirements are usually invalid for HREM of crystals. There is a need for an analytical expression of the dynamical electron wavefunction which applies for many beam diffraction in thicker crystals. It is well known that, when a crystal is viewed along a zone axis, i.e. parallel to the atom columns, the high resolution images often show a one-to-one correspondence with the configuration of columns provided the distance between the columns is large enough and the resolution of the instrument is sufficient. This is for instance the case in ordered alloys with a column structure [2,3]. From this, it can be suggested that, for a crystal viewed along a zone axis with sufficient separation between the columns, the wave function at the exit face does mainly depend on the projected structure, i.e. on the type of atom columns. Hence, the classical picture of electrons traversing the crystal as plane-like waves in the directions of the Bragg beams which historically stems from the X-ray diffraction picture, is in fact misleading.

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