Atomically resolved images from near node photoelectron holography experiments on Al(111)

Electron holography by planar electron backscattered diffraction patterns

Since Dennis Gabor introduced holography in 1948, it has been of interest to apply it to atomic scales. Electrons with high kinetic energies may indeed be used for electron holography. We describe the holographic process with electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) as a non-invasive surface structure analysis. We show that typical parameters of current experiments already provide the requirements to collect sufficient data for a successful holographic reconstruction. As a first example, we describe how holography may be applied to planar EBSD patterns. Furthermore, we discuss the influence of experimental parameters to improve the quality of the reconstruction.

Individual Atomic Imaging of Multiple Dopant Sites in As-Doped Si Using Spectro-Photoelectron Holography

The atomic scale characterization of dopant atoms in semiconductor devices to establish correlations with the electrical activation of these atoms is essential to the advancement of contemporary semiconductor process technology. Spectro-photoelectron holography combined with first-principles simulations can determine the local three-dimensional atomic structures of dopant elements, which in turn affect their electronic states. In the work reported herein, this technique was used to examine arsenic (As) atoms doped into a silicon (Si) crystal. As 3d core level photoelectron spectroscopy demonstrated the presence of three types of As atoms at a total concentration of approximately 10²⁰ cm^-3, denoted as BEH, BEM, and BEL. On the basis of Hall effect measurements, the BEH atoms corresponded to electrically active As occupying substitutional sites and exhibiting larger thermal fluctuations than the Si atoms, while the BEM atoms corresponded to electrically inactive As embedded in the As_nV (n = 2-4) type clusters. Finally, the BEL atoms were assigned to electrically inactive As in locally disordered structures.

Direct Atom Imaging by Chemical-Sensitive Holography

In order to understand the physical and chemical properties of advanced materials, functional molecular adsorbates, and protein structures, a detailed knowledge of the atomic arrangement is essential. Up to now, if subsurface structures are under investigation, only indirect methods revealed reliable results of the atoms' spatial arrangement. An alternative and direct method is three-dimensional imaging by means of holography. Holography was in fact proposed for electron waves, because of the electrons' short wavelength at easily accessible energies. Further, electron waves are ideal structure probes on an atomic length scale, because electrons have a high scattering probability even for light elements. However, holographic reconstructions of electron diffraction patterns have in the past contained severe image artifacts and were limited to at most a few tens of atoms. Here, we present a general reconstruction algorithm that leads to high-quality atomic images showing thousands of atoms. Additionally, we show that different elements can be identified by electron holography for the example of FeS2.

3D atomic imaging by internal-detector electron holography

A method of internal-detector electron holography is the time-reversed version of photoelectron holography. Using an energy-dispersive x-ray detector, an electron gun, and a computer-controllable sample stage, we measured a multiple-energy hologram of the atomic arrangement around the Ti atom in SrTiO3 by recording the characteristic Ti Kα x-ray spectra for different electron beam angles and wavelengths. A real-space image was obtained by using a fitting-based reconstruction algorithm. 3D atomic images of the elements Sr, Ti, and O in SrTiO3 were clearly visualized. The present work reveals that internal-detector electron holography has great potential for reproducing 3D atomic arrangements, even for light elements.

Differential photoelectron holography: a new approach for three-dimensional atomic imaging

We propose differential holography as a method to overcome the long-standing forward-scattering problem in photoelectron holography and related techniques for the three-dimensional imaging of atoms. Atomic images reconstructed from experimental and theoretical Cu 3p holograms from Cu(001) demonstrate that this method suppresses strong forward-scattering effects so as to yield more accurate three-dimensional images of side- and backscattering atoms.

Reconstruction of the shapes of gold nanocrystals using coherent x-ray diffraction

Inverse problems arise frequently in physics: The magnitude of the Fourier transform of some function is measurable, but not its phase. The "phase problem" in crystallography arises because the number of discrete measurements (Bragg peak intensities) is only half the number of unknowns (electron density points in space). Sayre first proposed that oversampling of diffraction data should allow a solution, and this has recently been demonstrated. Here we report the successful phasing of an oversampled hard x-ray diffraction pattern measured from a single nanocrystal of gold.

Nonlinear trans-resonant waves, vortices and patterns: From microresonators to the early Universe

Perturbed wave equations are considered. Approximate general solutions of these equations are constructed, which describe wave phenomena in different physical and chemical systems. Analogies between surface waves, nonlinear and atom optics, field theories and acoustics of the early Universe can be seen in the similarities between the general solutions that govern each system. With the help of the general solutions and boundary conditions and/or resonant conditions we have derived the basic highly nonlinear ordinary differential equation or the basic algebraic equation for traveling waves. Then, approximate analytic resonant solutions are constructed, which describe the trans-resonant transformation of harmonic waves into traveling shock-, jet-, or mushroom-like waves. The mushroom-like waves can evolve into cloud-like and vortex-like structures. The motion and oscillations of these waves and structures can be very complex. Under parametric excitation these waves can vary their velocity, stop, and change the direction of their motion. Different dynamic patterns are yielded by these resonant traveling waves in the x-t and x-y planes. They simulate many patterns observed in liquid layers, optical systems, superconductors, Bose-Einstein condensates, micro- and electron resonators. The harmonic excitation may be compressed and transformed inside the resonant band into traveling or standing particle-like waves. The area of application of these solutions and results may possibly vary from the generation of nuclear particles, acoustical turbulence, and catastrophic seismic waves to the formation of galaxies and the Universe. In particular, the formation of galaxies and galaxy clusters may be connected with nonlinear and resonant phenomena in the early Universe. (c) 2001 American Institute of Physics.

Atomic string holography

A new diffraction-channeling effect has been discovered, in which Kikuchi or channeling line patterns formed by high energy electrons, neutrons, and positrons are shown to break up into a series of annular disks if the crystal thickness traversed by the beam is small. The disks may be interpreted as Gabor in-line holograms of strings of atoms projected along the beam path. For electrons or positrons the patterns may be detected with little background by detecting characteristic x-ray emission from a thin film as a function of the diffraction conditions of a collimated, ionizing, high energy beam. Uses of the effect for structure determination and atomic-resolution lensless imaging are suggested.