An in-house developed annular bright field detection system

Abstract

Annular bright field (ABF) detectors have been developed in the last few years allowing the direct imaging of low-Z atoms from oxygen down to hydrogen. These types of detectors are now available as standard attachments for the latest generation of top-end electron microscopes. However these systems cannot always be installed in previous generation microscopes. In this paper we report the preliminary results of an in-house implementation of a ABF detection system on a CEOS aberration corrected JEOL 2200FS STEM. This has been obtained by exploiting the standard BF detector coupled with a high vacuum compatible, X-ray tight and retractable shadowing mechanism. This results in the acquisition of near zero-angle scattered electrons with inner collection semi-angle from 2.0 mrad to 23 mrad and outer semi-angle in the range from 3.0 mrad to 35 mrad. The characteristics and performances of this ABF detection system are discussed. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.