Big Data in Electron Microscopy

Gabriela Correa, Cornell University

Photo of Gabriela Correa

Electron microscopy allows imaging at the sub-angstrom scale. A new generation of high-speed, multidimensional detectors brings atomic-resolution microscopy into the era of Big Data. In particular, convergent beam electron diffraction (CBED) methods collect terabytes of information in a single scan, collecting for the first time the full four-dimensional distribution of scattered electrons. These complete data sets allow for image reconstructions via electron ptychography – rendering atomic resolution information on probability currents, orbital angular momentum, torque transfers, local electronic fields, local magnetic fields, nuclei positions and strain. We investigate the integration of probability-current detectors with high-performance computing to measure the physical properties of materials.

Abstract Author(s): Gabriela C. Correa, Yi Jiang, Zhen Chen, David A. Muller, Peter A. Ercius