DIRECT ELECTRON, L.P. — Department of Energy SBIR Phase II: 15d

Description

Advanced techniques in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) such as high-speed continuous tilt tomography, in situ microscopy, and (S)TEM at liquid helium temperature are hampered by the lack of a large field-of-view electron counting camera with sufficiently high dynamic range and frame rate. Currently available systems are an order of magnitude too slow, require severely limited beam intensity, and present huge challenges with the massive amounts of data they deliver to the user’s computer. Addressing these issues requires a new strategy for data collection and processing. Building on our successful Phase I work, we propose to continue the development and commercialization of a new edge-computing electron counting camera that takes advantage of a novel sparse, binary-readout direct electron sensor that we have successfully developed and fabricated. Instead of the conventional brute- force imaging approach to electron counting used by existing cameras, our strategy is to record detection events on the sensor and then perform electron counting operations in hardware located in the camera head, thereby relieving associated computer resources for processing such high-speed data. In Phase I, we successfully operated a prototype camera, demonstrating the low-noise, high-sensitivity, and high-dynamic-range performance of our new sensor and proving our edge-computing strategy for electron counting. In Phase II, we will improve performance by refining our edge-computing electron counting algorithm to improve performance, further boost framerate by applying lossless compression in hardware/firmware, integrate the new camera in user-focused data acquisition software, and synchronize data acquisition with data from state-of-the-art third-party in situ specimen holders. The resulting commercialized system will provide a 16-megapixel camera system, delivering continuous real- time streaming with significantly higher dynamic range, less noise, and higher frame rate than any currently- available TEM camera. This will be a tremendous benefit for multi-dimensional electron microscopy in private, public, and national laboratories working in a wide variety of fields. Microscopists will be able to take advantage of recent and upcoming advances in TEM instrumentation by capturing high-speed specimen dynamics, and doing so without the exposure rate constraints imposed by conventional electron counting cameras. Removing the camera as a limiting factor for TEM imaging will make it indispensable for a wide variety of TEM techniques, including high-speed continuous tilt tomography, in situ microscopy, and cryo-EM of both materials and biological specimens. liquid helium temperature.