Reduced-dose and high-speed acquisition strategies for multi-dimensional electron microscopy

Abstract

Multi-dimensional electron microscopy has recently gained considerable interest thanks to the advent of microscopes with unprecedented analytical and in situ capabilities. These information-rich imaging modes, though, are often subject to long acquisition times and large data generation. In this paper, we explore novel acquisition strategies and reconstruction algorithms to retrieve reliable reconstructions from datasets that are limited in terms of both per image and tilt series angular sampling. We show that inpainting techniques are capable of restoring scanning transmission electron microscopy images in which a very restricted number of pixels are scanned, while compressed sensing tomographic reconstruction is capable of minimising artefacts due to angular subsampling. An example of robust reconstruction from data constituting a dose reduction of 10× is presented, using an organic/inorganic core-shell nanowire as a test sample. The combination of these novel acquisition schemes and image recovery strategies provides new avenues to reduced-dose and high-speed imaging.