FEI (now ThermoFisher) Titan G3 50-300 PICO
The FEI (now ThermoFisher) Titan G3 50-300 PICO is a unique fourth generation transmission electron microscope which has been specifically designed for the investigation of a wide range of solid state phenomena taking place on the atomic scale and thus necessitating true atomic resolution analysis capabilities. For these purposes, the FEI (now ThermoFisher) Titan G3 50-300 PICO is equipped with a Schottky type high-brightness electron gun (FEI X-FEG), a monochromator unit, and a Cs probe corrector (CEOS DCOR), a Cs-Cc achro-aplanat image corrector (CEOS CCOR+), a double biprism, a post-column energy filter system (Gatan GIF Continuum K3 1069 system with a direct detection K3 camera and a second scintillator based 1069.EXUP camera) as well as a 16 megapixel CCD system (Gatan OneView Camera). Characterised by a TEM and STEM resolution well below 50 pm at 200 kV, the instrument is one of the few chromatically-corrected high resolution transmission electron microscopes in the world. Typical examples of use and technical specifications for the instrument are given below.
Sample Environment
The FEI (now ThermoFisher) Titan G3 50-300 PICO allows samples to be investigated under room temperature at a vacuum level of about 10–8 mbar. Besides this standard setup, the sample environment can be adapted to various conditions, such as cooling or the application of external electric or magnetic fields to samples, making use of a wide portfolio of in situ TEM holders available through the ER-C user services. Sample heating is not supported.
Typical Applications and Limitations of Use
The configuration of the FEI (now ThermoFisher) Titan G3 50-300 PICO allows a variety of advanced transmission electron microscopy techniques to be applied to wide bunch of solid state materials. These techniques include electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), energy filtered transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM) and 4D scanning transmission electron microscopy (4D-STEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), high resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy (HRSTEM) with annular detectors for bright-field, annular dark-field, and high-angle annular dark field imaging, off axis electron holography (OAEH), electron tomography (ET), and combinations of the previous techniques. The FEI (now ThermoFisher) Titan G3 50-300 PICO is not intended for the investigation of aqueous, contaminated, ferromagnetic or organic samples without further discussions with both of the instruments officers and the ER-C general management.
Specimen Stages
| Double tilt low background holder | ± 40 ° |
| High field of view single tilt tomography holder | ± 70 ° |
| Dual-axis tomography holder | ± 50 ° |
| On axis rotation tomography holder | 360° |
| Further in situ specimen stages available |
Detectors
| Gatan based OneView Camera with 25 frames per second at full 4k x 4k resolution and with real-time drift correction and extended dynamic range beyond 16-bits (no beam stop required) |
| Next-generation GIF Continuum K3 System with direct detection that enables EELS and EFTEM applications. The system includes a K3 CMOS camera running for 80-300 kV with 3.4k x 3.4k read area (pixel size 5 µm, 75 fps at full resolution), ultra-fast electrostatic shutter (100 ns), high-speed DualEELS(TM) with 2 kV offset and integrated BF/DF detector with centered beam stop. It also includes a second scintillator based GIB 1069.EXUP camera applicable for 30-300 kV. |
| Fischione Model 3000 HAADF STEM detector. |
| Further in situ specimen stages available |
Technical Specifications
| Electron acceleration voltage | 50 kV … 300 kV |
| Electron beam current | < 140 nA |
| Information limit (TEM) @ 300 kV | < 55 pm |
| Information limit (TEM) @ 200 kV | < 50 pm |
| Information limit (TEM) @ 80 kV | < 70 pm |
| Information limit (TEM) @ 50 kV | < 90 pm |
| Total system drift (TEM) | < 300 pm min-1 (rms) |
| Resolution (STEM) @ 300 kV | < 50 pm |
| Resolution (STEM) @ 200 kV | < 80 pm |
| Combined electron probe and sample drift | < 200 pm min-1 (rms) |
| System energy resolution @ 300 kV & 200 pA | < 0.20 eV |
| System energy resolution @ 200 kV & 30 pA | < 0.12 eV |
| System energy resolution @ 80 kV & 40 pA | < 0.10 eV |
Instrument related Publications
| Barthel J and Thust A (2013). On the optical stability of high-resolution transmission electron microscopes. Ultramicroscopy 134 (2013) 6–17. doi 10.1016/j.ultramic.2013.05.001 |
| Haider M, Hartel P, Müller H, Uhlemann S, and Zach J (2010). Information transfer in a TEM corrected for spherical and chromatic aberration. Microscopy and Microanalysis 16 (2010) 393–408. doi 10.1017/S1431927610013498 |
| Uhlemann S, Müller H, Zach J, and Haider M (2015). Thermal magnetic field noise: Electron optics and decoherence. Ultramicroscopy 151 (2015) 199–210. doi 10.1016/j.ultramic.2014.11.022 |
| Urban K W, Mayer J, Jinschek J R, Neish M J, Lugg N R and Allen L J (2013). Achromatic elemental mapping beyond the nanoscale in the transmission electron microscope. Physical Review Letters 110 (2013) 185507. doi 10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.185507 |
| Jin L, Barthel J, Jia C L and Urban K W (2017). Atomic resolution imaging of YAlO3: Ce in the chromatic and spherical aberration corrected PICO electron microscope. Ultramicroscopy 176 (2017) 99-104. doi 10.1016/j.ultramic.2016.12.026 |