The revolution in nanoscale science and technology requires instrumentation for observation and metrology - we must be able to see and measure what we build. Because nano-devices operate on the level of a few molecules, or even a few atoms, accurate atomic-scale imaging is called for. High-resolution aberration-corrected electron microscopes (both TEM and STEM) can provide valuable measurements at the sub-Angstrom level. Over the next decade, extension of TEM and STEM resolutions to half-Angstrom levels by next-generation aberration-corrected electron microscopes will advance the capabilities of these essential tools for atomic-scale structural characterization. Because improvements in resolution allow for separation of atom columns in many more projection directions, these microscopes will provide much improved three-dimensional characterization of the shape and internal structure of nanodevices and catalyst nanoparticles (perhaps even true 3-D imaging), and hence provide essential feedback in the nano-theory/construction/measurement loop.

Using specimens with diamond cubic and zincblende structures, oriented to provide pairs of atoms in "dumbbell" configurations, we have identified specimens with well-characterized atom separations over a 3:1 range of spacings straddling the canonical 1 Angstrom value. Spacings ranging from 1.6 Angstrom to 0.5 Angstrom are available from an "A-OK" set of test specimens carefully selected for their stability and well-characterized lattice parameters.

John Cowley and his group at Arizona State University pioneered the use of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) for high-resolution imaging. Images were achieved three decades ago showing the crystal unit cell content at better than 4 Angstrom resolution. This achievement enabled researchers to pinpoint the positions of heavy atom columns within the unit cell. Lighter atoms appear as resolution is improved to sub-Angstrom levels. Currently, advanced microscopes can image the columns of the light atoms (carbon, oxygen, nitrogen) that are present in many complex structures, and even the lithium atoms present in some battery materials. Sub-Angstrom imaging, initially achieved by focal-series reconstruction of the specimen exit surface wave, will become commonplace for next-generation electron microscopes with CS-corrected lenses and monochromated electron beams. Resolution can be quantified in terms of peak separation and inter-peak minimum, but the limits imposed on the attainable resolution by the properties of the micro-scope specimen need to be considered. At extreme resolution the "size" of atoms can mean that they will not be resolved even when spaced farther apart than the resolution of the microscope.

Ability to determine whether an image peak represents one single atom or several depends on resolution of the HR-(S)TEM. Rayleigh's resolution criterion, an accepted standard in optics, was derived as a means for judging when two image intensity peaks from two sources of light (stars) are distinguishable from a single source. Atom spacings closer than the Rayleigh limit have been resolved in HR-TEM, suggesting that it may be useful to consider other limits, such as the Sparrow resolution criterion. From the viewpoint of the materials scientist, it is important to be able to use the image to deter-mine whether an image feature represents one or more atoms (resolution), and where the atoms (or atom columns) are positioned relative to one another (resolution quality). When atoms and the corresponding image peaks are separated by more than the Rayleigh limit of the HR-(S)TEM, it is possible to adjust imaging parameters so that relative peak positions in the image correspond to relative atom positions in the specimen. When atoms are closer than the Rayleigh limit, we must find the relationship of the peak position to the atom position by peak fitting or, if we have a suitable model, by image simulation. Our Rayleigh-Sparrow parameter QRS reveals the "resolution quality" of a microscope image. QRS values greater than 1 indicate a clearly resolved twin peak, while values between 1 and 0 mean a lower-quality resolution and an image with peaks displaced from the relative atom positions. The depth of the twin-peak minimum can be used to determine the value of QRS and the true separation of the atom peaks that sum to produce the twin peak in the image. The Rayleigh-Sparrow parameter can be used to refine relative atom positions in defect images where atoms are closer than the Rayleigh limit of the HR-(S)TEM, reducing the necessity for full image simulations from large defect models.

We have used the One-Angstrom Microscope (OAM) to image and apply focal-series reconstruction (FSR) of the exit-surface wave (ESW) to a 70Angstrom particle of gold supported on amorphous carbon. The phase of the complex ESW shows the positions of the atom columns in the specimen as white dots, and its diffractogram shows it contains information to 1.23Angstrom. The result demonstrates that through-focal reconstruction of the ESW does not need large crystal expanses to work properly. Although [110] Au structures may not need sub-Angstrom resolution to show all the useful structural details of the particle in this orientation, it is clear that focal reconstruction of the ESW can improve original data that is much more difficult to interpret directly. We expect this technique to prove even more useful when applied to nanoparticles containing finer spacings than the 2.35Angstrom separation of the 111 planes in the present gold nano-particle.

At ORNL, the new Advanced Microscopy Laboratory (AML) has recently been completed, with two aberration-corrected instruments installed, and two more planned in the near future to fill the 4-laboratory building. The installed JEOL 2200FS-AC has demonstrated a TEM information limit of 0.9A. This limit is expected given the measured instrument parameters (HT and OL power supply stabilities, beam energy spread, etc.), and illustrates that the environmental influences are not adversely affecting the instrument performance. In STEM high-angle annular dark-field (HA-ADF) mode, images of a thin Si crystal in zone axis orientation, after primary aberrations in the illuminating beam were optimally corrected, showed a significant vibration effect. The microscope is fitted with three magnetically levitated turbo pumps (one on the column at about the specimen position, and two near floor level) that pump the Omega energy filter and detector chamber. These pumps run at 48,000 rpm, precisely equivalent to 800Hz. It was determined that the upper turbo pump was contributing essentially all of the 800Hz signal to the image, and in fact that the pump was defective. After replacing the pump with one significantly quieter than the original, the Si atomic column image and associated diffractogram (Fig. 4b) show a much-reduced effect of the 800Hz signal, but still some residual effect from the turbo pump. The upper pump will be removed from the main column to an adjacent frame on the floor, and will have a large-diameter, well-damped, pump line to the original connection to the column to effectively isolate the pump from the column. If the 800Hz signal results from mechanical vibrations, they will be damped, and if the signal results from acoustic coupling to the column, it can be damped by appropriate acoustic materials.

Proliferation of electron microscopes with field emission guns, imaging filters and hardware spherical aberration correctors (giving higher spatial and energy resolution) has resulted in the need to construct special laboratories. As resolutions improve, transmission electron microscopes (TEMs) and scanning transmission electron microscopes (STEMs) become more sensitive to ambient conditions. State-of-the-art electron microscopes require state-of-the-art environments, and this means careful design and implementation of microscope sites, from the microscope room to the building that surrounds it. Laboratories have been constructed to house high-sensitive instruments with resolutions ranging down to sub-Angstrom levels; we present the various design philosophies used for some of these laboratories and our experiences with them. Four facilities are described: the National Center for Electron Microscopy OAM Laboratory at LBNL; the FEGTEM Facility at the University of Sheffield; the Center for Integrative Molecular Biosciences at TSRI; and the Advanced Microscopy Laboratory at ORNL.