title: Intrinsic instability of aberration-corrected electron microscopes.
abstract: Aberration-corrected microscopes with subatomic resolution will impact broad areas of science and technology. However, the experimentally observed lifetime of the corrected state is just a few minutes. Here we show that the corrected state is intrinsically unstable; the higher its quality, the more unstable it is. Analyzing the contrast transfer function near optimum correction, we define an "instability budget" which allows a rational trade-off between resolution and stability. Unless control systems are developed to overcome these challenges, intrinsic instability poses a fundamental limit to the resolution practically achievable in the electron microscope.
authors.affiliation: Leiden University, Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratorium, P.O. Box 9504, NL-2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Schramm
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: van der Molen
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Tromp