Limits of Three-Dimensional Resolution and Dose for Aberration-Corrected Electron Tomography

Abstract

Aberration-corrected electron microscopy can resolve the smallest atomic bond lengths in nature. However, the high-convergence angles that enable spectacular resolution in two dimensions have unknown three-dimensional (3D) resolution limits for all but the smallest objects ( 20 nm) using available microscopes and modest specimen tilting (<3°). Furthermore, aberration-corrected tomography follows the rule of dose fractionation where a specified total dose can be divided among tilts and defoci.