Development of a Novel Environmental Cell for In-Situ Gas Reaction Experiments via Aberration-Corrected STEM Imaging

Abstract

A novel heating technology composed of a disposable MEMS-based (microelectromechanical systems) device has recently been developed and shown to provide unique in-situ heating capabilities in electron microscopes [1]. Protochips, Inc. (Raleigh, NC) provides the AduroTM heater technology, composed of a disposable MEMS device that serves both as the heating element and the specimen support grid, a TEM holder with electrical feed-throughs, and an external current source. This system has been shown to provide near instantaneous (106 °C/s) heating and cooling, and is stable to the limit of the microscope's specimen stage so full sub-Ångström image resolution in highangle annular dark-field imaging mode can be achieved on our JEOL 2200FS scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM/TEM) instrument, fitted with a hexapole corrector on the probe-forming lenses (CEOS GmbH, Heidelberg, Ger.). This heating technology is being extended to function in a closed cell system that allows heating in a gaseous environment for in-situ elevated temperature reaction studies. The design concepts and early results of testing of the environmental cell (E-cell) performance are detailed here.