title: Quantitative 3D analysis of huge nanoparticle assemblies.
abstract: Nanoparticle assemblies can be investigated in 3 dimensions using electron tomography. However, it is not straightforward to obtain quantitative information such as the number of particles or their relative position. This becomes particularly difficult when the number of particles increases. We propose a novel approach in which prior information on the shape of the individual particles is exploited. It improves the quality of the reconstruction of these complex assemblies significantly. Moreover, this quantitative Sparse Sphere Reconstruction approach yields directly the number of particles and their position as an output of the reconstruction technique, enabling a detailed 3D analysis of assemblies with as many as 10,000 particles. The approach can also be used to reconstruct objects based on a very limited number of projections, which opens up possibilities to investigate beam sensitive assemblies where previous reconstructions with the available electron tomography techniques failed.
authors.affiliation: EMAT, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020 Antwerp, Belgium. sara.bals@uantwerpen.be.
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zanaga
authors.affiliation: Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica, Science Park 123, NL-1098XG Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Folkert
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bleichrodt
authors.affiliation: EMAT, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020 Antwerp, Belgium. sara.bals@uantwerpen.be.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Altantzis
authors.affiliation: EMAT, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020 Antwerp, Belgium. sara.bals@uantwerpen.be.
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Winckelmans
authors.affiliation: Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica, Science Park 123, NL-1098XG Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Willem Jan
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Palenstijn
authors.affiliation: iMinds-Visionlab, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sijbers
authors.affiliation: Soft Condensed Matter, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University, Princetonplein 5, 3584 CC Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Bart
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: de Nijs
authors.affiliation: Soft Condensed Matter, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University, Princetonplein 5, 3584 CC Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marijn A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: van Huis
authors.affiliation: Bionanoplasmonics Laboratory, CIC biomaGUNE, Paseo de Miramón 182, 20009 Donostia - San Sebastián, Spain.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Iglesias
authors.affiliation: Bionanoplasmonics Laboratory, CIC biomaGUNE, Paseo de Miramón 182, 20009 Donostia - San Sebastián, Spain.
authors.forename: Luis M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Liz-Marzán
authors.affiliation: Soft Condensed Matter, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University, Princetonplein 5, 3584 CC Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Alfons
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: van Blaaderen
authors.affiliation: Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica, Science Park 123, NL-1098XG Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: K Joost
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Batenburg
authors.affiliation: EMAT, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020 Antwerp, Belgium. sara.bals@uantwerpen.be.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bals
authors.affiliation: EMAT, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020 Antwerp, Belgium. sara.bals@uantwerpen.be.
authors.forename: Gustaaf
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Van Tendeloo