Descripción del proyecto
La compresión y no el filtrado elimina las pérdidas del haz de electrones
La resolución espacial y espectral de los microscopios electrónicos de alta resolución avanzados está limitada por la dispersión energética del haz de electrones, lo cual da lugar a aberraciones cromáticas. Para resolver esta limitación, se suelen emplear monocromadores, que presentan ranuras mecánicas que actúan como filtro de paso de banda, pero que provocan pérdidas en el haz de electrones. En el proyecto Loss-less Monochroma, financiado por el Consejo Europeo de Investigación, se pretende desarrollar un monocromador simplificado basado en un monocristal ubicado en la columna del microscopio. Los pulsos de láser infrarrojo generarán radiación de terahercios en el cristal que interactúa con el haz de electrones de forma que la energía del haz de electrones se comprime, en vez de filtrarse, sin introducir pérdidas de electrones. La tecnología pionera de cristal será compatible con la modernización de microscopios electrónicos convencionales de bajo coste, lo cual contribuirá a mejorar su rendimiento.
Objetivo
Lossless Electron Beam Monochromator for Enhanced Resolution in Electron Microscopy
The performance of advanced high-resolution electron-microscopes (EM) is severely limited by the energy spread of the electron beam, which limits both spatial and spectral resolutions by causing chromatic aberrations. To mitigate this limitation, monochromators are used. Common monochromators have mechanical slits as a narrow band-pass filter, inherently introducing high loss to the electron beam. They are very complex and thus highly expensive. Here we propose to develop a novel electron monochromator technology that is lossless, relatively simple (and thus, cost-effective), and modular, so it can potentially be installed as an upgrade in a wide range of existing EM systems. The proposed monochromator compresses the electron energy rather than filtering it, and thus the resulting electron beam suffers no losses. We use a single crystal, located inside the microscope column, close to the incoming electron beam. Infrared laser pulses are used to generate THz radiation in the crystal which interacts with the electron beam such that the energy of the electron beam is compressed without introducing electron losses.
We aim to achieve this through three main goals: (1) Demonstrate the ability to get strong energy compression in pulsed electron mode with the advantage of low losses. (2) Demonstrate that our idea can also upgrade the performance of traditional low-cost CW operating EM such as low-voltage scanning EM (LV-SEM). (3) Commercialize our IP and penetrate the market. We developed new IP, aiming to commercialize the technology at the end of the project. We are in contact with microscope manufacturers expressing interest in our innovation. Our lossless electron beam monochromator is expected to be a game-changer in all EM applications, in particular the semiconductor inspection and medicine development markets, where high-resolution SEMs are becoming increasingly popular.
Programa(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Convocatoria de propuestas
(se abrirá en una nueva ventana) ERC-2022-POC2
Consulte otros proyectos de esta convocatoriaRégimen de financiación
HORIZON-ERC-POC - HORIZON ERC Proof of Concept GrantsInstitución de acogida
32000 Haifa
Israel