Four-dimensional ultrafast electron microscopy of phase transitions
Abstract
Reported here is direct imaging (and diffraction) by using 4D ultrafast electron microscopy (UEM) with combined spatial and temporal resolutions. In the first phase of UEM, it was possible to obtain snapshot images by using timed, single-electron packets; each packet is free of space–charge effects. Here, we demonstrate the ability to obtain sequences of snapshots ("movies") with atomic-scale spatial resolution and ultrashort temporal resolution. Specifically, it is shown that ultrafast metal–insulator phase transitions can be studied with these achieved spatial and temporal resolutions. The diffraction (atomic scale) and images (nanometer scale) we obtained manifest the structural phase transition with its characteristic hysteresis, and the time scale involved (100 fs) is now studied by directly monitoring coordinates of the atoms themselves.
Additional Information
© 2006 by the National Academy of Sciences. Contributed by Ahmed H. Zewail, October 18, 2006 (sent for review October 17, 2006). Published online before print November 27, 2006, 10.1073/pnas.0609233103. We thank Prof. John M. Thomas for useful discussions on materials and dislocations, Prof. Nate Lewis for allowing access to his facilities for preparation of the samples, and Dr. Spencer Baskin and Dr. Hyun-Soon Park for helpful discussions. This research was supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the National Science Foundation. M.G. thanks the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship program, with Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (California Institute of Technology) matching, for providing a stipend during this summer. J.W. gratefully acknowledges a stipend from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. Author contributions: M.S.G., V.A.L., J.W., and A.H.Z. performed research and wrote the paper. The authors declare no conflict of interest.Attached Files
Published - GRIpnas06.pdf
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Additional details
- PMCID
- PMC1693681
- Eprint ID
- 8617
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:GRIpnas06
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
- NSF
- Caltech Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)
- Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation
- Created
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2007-08-31Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2023-06-01Created from EPrint's last_modified field