At the Albert Crewe Centre we are working to extend his legacy with a strategic focus on the development of new approaches to imaging atomic scale dynamics in SEM, STEM and FIB (focused ion beam).
Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy shared research facility (STEM-SRF)
We focus on operando experiments and beam sensitive materials using integrated AI to design, implement and interpret atomic scale measurements.
A unique feature of the STEM-SRF is its primary focus on the use of in-situ and operando stages. Our research looks at developing new applications for gas/liquid/open cell experiments that push the limits of spatial and temporal resolution for dynamic processes across broad areas of science and technology.
In addition, we are pursuing a science driven integration of key AI concepts into an optimal simultaneous acquisition and interpretation protocol for all our STEM methods.
The main thrust of this AI4STEM approach is a compressed sensing (CS)/AI framework that will permit a range of advanced quantitative multi-scale hyperspectral data to be obtained and reconstructed using orders of magnitude fewer pixels than in conventional methods, i.e. images will be obtained under extremely low dose and/or dose rate conditions with vastly accelerated framerates.
This dose/speed/resolution optimisation creates wide-ranging new opportunities to avoid electron beam damage and is being used to obtain quantified atomic scale observations of metastable materials and processes.