title: Bright-field TEM imaging of single molecules: dream or near future?
abstract: We examine the suitability of spherical aberration (C(S))-corrected (CS) and uncorrected (UC) transmission electron microscopes (TEM) for conventional bright-field imaging of radiation-sensitive materials. We have chosen an individual molecule suspended in vacuum as a hypothetical example of a well-defined radiation-sensitive sample. We find that for this particular sample, CS instruments provide about 30% improvement over an UC instrument in terms of signal/noise ratio per unit electron dose at 300kV. The lowest imaging doses can be achieved in CS instruments equipped with high-brightness electron source operated at low incident electron energies. Our calculations suggest that it may be possible to image individual, iodine- or bromine-substituted organic molecules in bright-field mode, at doses lower than the accepted values for radiation damage of aromatic molecules.
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Nanotechnology, 1421 Saskatchewan Drive, Edmonton, Canada T6G 2M9. marek.malac@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Malac
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Beleggia
authors.forename: Ray
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Egerton
authors.forename: Yimei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhu