Direct imaging of electron density with a scanning transmission electron microscope

Ondrej Dyck; Jawaher Almutlaq; David Lingerfelt; Jacob L. Swett; Mark P. Oxley; Bevin Huang; Andrew R. Lupini; Dirk Englund; Stephen Jesse

doi:10.1038/s41467-023-42256-9

Direct imaging of electron density with a scanning transmission electron microscope

Ondrej Dyck, Jawaher Almutlaq, David Lingerfelt, Jacob L. Swett, Mark P. Oxley, Bevin Huang, Andrew R. Lupini, Dirk Englund, Stephen Jesse

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Recent studies of secondary electron (SE) emission in scanning transmission electron microscopes suggest that material’s properties such as electrical conductivity, connectivity, and work function can be probed with atomic scale resolution using a technique known as secondary electron e-beam-induced current (SEEBIC). Here, we apply the SEEBIC imaging technique to a stacked 2D heterostructure device to reveal the spatially resolved electron density of an encapsulated WSe₂ layer. We find that the double Se lattice site shows higher emission than the W site, which is at odds with first-principles modelling of valence ionization of an isolated WSe₂ cluster. These results illustrate that atomic level SEEBIC contrast within a single material is possible and that an enhanced understanding of atomic scale SE emission is required to account for the observed contrast. In turn, this suggests that, in the future, subtle information about interlayer bonding and the effect on electron orbitals could be directly revealed with this technique.

Original language	English
Article number	7550
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	14
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42256-9
State	Published - Dec 2023

Funding

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division (O.D. A.R.L., S.J.), and was performed at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS), a U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science User Facility. O.D. and S.J. were funded by DOE, SC, Basic Energy Sciences (BES) - ERKCK47. J.A. acknowledges the fund from support from the Army Research Office MURI (Ab Initio Solid-State Quantum Materials) Grant no. W911NF-18-1-043, from KACST-MIT Ibn Khaldun Fellowship for Saudi Arabian Women, and from Ibn Rushd Postdoctoral award from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.

Funders	Funder number
Army Research Office MURI	W911NF-18-1-043
Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences
KACST-MIT Ibn Khaldun Fellowship for Saudi Arabian Women
U.S. Department of Energy	ERKCK47
Office of Science
Basic Energy Sciences
Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

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title = "Direct imaging of electron density with a scanning transmission electron microscope",

abstract = "Recent studies of secondary electron (SE) emission in scanning transmission electron microscopes suggest that material{\textquoteright}s properties such as electrical conductivity, connectivity, and work function can be probed with atomic scale resolution using a technique known as secondary electron e-beam-induced current (SEEBIC). Here, we apply the SEEBIC imaging technique to a stacked 2D heterostructure device to reveal the spatially resolved electron density of an encapsulated WSe2 layer. We find that the double Se lattice site shows higher emission than the W site, which is at odds with first-principles modelling of valence ionization of an isolated WSe2 cluster. These results illustrate that atomic level SEEBIC contrast within a single material is possible and that an enhanced understanding of atomic scale SE emission is required to account for the observed contrast. In turn, this suggests that, in the future, subtle information about interlayer bonding and the effect on electron orbitals could be directly revealed with this technique.",

author = "Ondrej Dyck and Jawaher Almutlaq and David Lingerfelt and Swett, {Jacob L.} and Oxley, {Mark P.} and Bevin Huang and Lupini, {Andrew R.} and Dirk Englund and Stephen Jesse",

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AU - Dyck, Ondrej

AU - Almutlaq, Jawaher

AU - Lingerfelt, David

AU - Swett, Jacob L.

AU - Oxley, Mark P.

AU - Huang, Bevin

AU - Lupini, Andrew R.

AU - Englund, Dirk

AU - Jesse, Stephen

PY - 2023/12

Y1 - 2023/12

N2 - Recent studies of secondary electron (SE) emission in scanning transmission electron microscopes suggest that material’s properties such as electrical conductivity, connectivity, and work function can be probed with atomic scale resolution using a technique known as secondary electron e-beam-induced current (SEEBIC). Here, we apply the SEEBIC imaging technique to a stacked 2D heterostructure device to reveal the spatially resolved electron density of an encapsulated WSe2 layer. We find that the double Se lattice site shows higher emission than the W site, which is at odds with first-principles modelling of valence ionization of an isolated WSe2 cluster. These results illustrate that atomic level SEEBIC contrast within a single material is possible and that an enhanced understanding of atomic scale SE emission is required to account for the observed contrast. In turn, this suggests that, in the future, subtle information about interlayer bonding and the effect on electron orbitals could be directly revealed with this technique.

AB - Recent studies of secondary electron (SE) emission in scanning transmission electron microscopes suggest that material’s properties such as electrical conductivity, connectivity, and work function can be probed with atomic scale resolution using a technique known as secondary electron e-beam-induced current (SEEBIC). Here, we apply the SEEBIC imaging technique to a stacked 2D heterostructure device to reveal the spatially resolved electron density of an encapsulated WSe2 layer. We find that the double Se lattice site shows higher emission than the W site, which is at odds with first-principles modelling of valence ionization of an isolated WSe2 cluster. These results illustrate that atomic level SEEBIC contrast within a single material is possible and that an enhanced understanding of atomic scale SE emission is required to account for the observed contrast. In turn, this suggests that, in the future, subtle information about interlayer bonding and the effect on electron orbitals could be directly revealed with this technique.

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Direct imaging of electron density with a scanning transmission electron microscope

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