Visualization of Sub-atomic Movements in Nanostructures
Visualization of Sub-atomic Movements in Nanostructures
Electron microscopy, scanning probe, and optical super-resolution imaging techniques with nanometric resolution are now routinely available but cannot capture the characteristically fast (MHz–GHz frequency) movements of micro-/nano-objects. Meanwhile, optical interferometric techniques can detect high-frequency picometric displacements but only with diffraction-limited lateral resolution. Here, we introduce a motion visualization technique, based on the spectrally resolved detection of secondary electron emission from moving objects, that combines picometric displacement sensitivity with the nanometric spatial (positional/imaging) resolution of electron microscopy. The sensitivity of the technique is quantitatively validated against the thermodynamically defined amplitude of a nanocantilever’s Brownian motion. It is further demonstrated in visualizing externally driven modes of cantilever, nanomechanical photonic metamaterial, and MEMS device structures. With a noise floor reaching ∼1 pm/Hz1/2, it can provide for the study of oscillatory movements with subatomic amplitudes, presenting new opportunities for the interrogation of motion in functional structures across the materials, bio- and nanosciences.
electron microscopy, metrology, nanomechanics, thermal motion
7746-7752
Liu, Tongjun
53eb4a71-ea7b-4aa7-b96d-b70c5df1dd63
Ou, Jun-Yu
3fb703e3-b222-46d2-b4ee-75f296d9d64d
Plum, Eric
50761a26-2982-40df-9153-7aecc4226eb5
MacDonald, Kevin F.
76c84116-aad1-4973-b917-7ca63935dba5
Zheludev, Nikolai
32fb6af7-97e4-4d11-bca6-805745e40cc6
22 September 2021
Liu, Tongjun
53eb4a71-ea7b-4aa7-b96d-b70c5df1dd63
Ou, Jun-Yu
3fb703e3-b222-46d2-b4ee-75f296d9d64d
Plum, Eric
50761a26-2982-40df-9153-7aecc4226eb5
MacDonald, Kevin F.
76c84116-aad1-4973-b917-7ca63935dba5
Zheludev, Nikolai
32fb6af7-97e4-4d11-bca6-805745e40cc6
Liu, Tongjun, Ou, Jun-Yu, Plum, Eric, MacDonald, Kevin F. and Zheludev, Nikolai
(2021)
Visualization of Sub-atomic Movements in Nanostructures.
Nano Letters, 21 (18), .
(doi:10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c02644).
Abstract
Electron microscopy, scanning probe, and optical super-resolution imaging techniques with nanometric resolution are now routinely available but cannot capture the characteristically fast (MHz–GHz frequency) movements of micro-/nano-objects. Meanwhile, optical interferometric techniques can detect high-frequency picometric displacements but only with diffraction-limited lateral resolution. Here, we introduce a motion visualization technique, based on the spectrally resolved detection of secondary electron emission from moving objects, that combines picometric displacement sensitivity with the nanometric spatial (positional/imaging) resolution of electron microscopy. The sensitivity of the technique is quantitatively validated against the thermodynamically defined amplitude of a nanocantilever’s Brownian motion. It is further demonstrated in visualizing externally driven modes of cantilever, nanomechanical photonic metamaterial, and MEMS device structures. With a noise floor reaching ∼1 pm/Hz1/2, it can provide for the study of oscillatory movements with subatomic amplitudes, presenting new opportunities for the interrogation of motion in functional structures across the materials, bio- and nanosciences.
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visualization of subatomic movement - accepted manuscript
- Accepted Manuscript
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visualization of subatomic movement - supporting information
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 23 August 2021
e-pub ahead of print date: 1 September 2021
Published date: 22 September 2021
Additional Information:
Funding Information: This work was supported by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (grants EP/M009122/1 and EP/T02643X/1), the Singapore Ministry of Education (N.I.Z.; grant MOE2016-T3-1-006), and the China Scholarship Council (T.L.; grant 201806160012). The authors thank Dr. Ioannis Zeimpekis for providing the MEMS accelerometer for characterization. Following a period of embargo, the data from this paper will be available from the University of Southampton ePrints research repository: 10.5258/SOTON/D1916 .
Keywords:
electron microscopy, metrology, nanomechanics, thermal motion
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 451236
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/451236
ISSN: 1530-6984
PURE UUID: 6f490c8a-0cac-4753-8f92-6b5bb10489ff
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Date deposited: 14 Sep 2021 20:58
Last modified: 06 Jun 2024 01:49
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