Our UTEM is part of the Technion's Electron Microscopy Center (MIKA, EMC)
4D electron microscopy - super resolution in space and time
Assembling the first 4D electron microscope in Israel (one of a few in the world): spatial+temporal resolution enhanced by 10 orders of magnitude!
Following the visionary work of Nobel Laureate Ahmed Zewail, we built a new lab that combines an electron microscope with a femtosecond pulsed laser. This is the first system of its kind in Israel, and one of just a few in the entire world. Initially we were involved in research abroad to learn the state-of-the-art techniques at MIT and EPFL.
The system provides a range of unprecedented capabilities in physics and materials research enabled by having exceptional spatial and temporal resolution simultaneously accessible (10 orders of magnitude better than conventional microscopes!). It also enables us to demonstrate new proof-of-concepts for compact x-ray sources.
Please refer to the Light-Matter Interactions page and our newly accepted Nature paper for more details.
The system specifications
The UEM features:
- A broad spectrum of optical pump wavelengths ranging from 325nm-16μm
- Multiple electron probe energies: 40, 60, 80, 120, 160 and 200 keV
- Stroboscopy with femtosecond laser pulses for ultrafast dynamics and single-shot imaging with nanosecond laser pulses for irreversible processes.
- Versatile operational configurations.
TEM:
- JEOL JEM 2100 Plus with LaB6 thermal electron source, calibrated for 40, 60, 80, 160 and 200 kV acceleration voltages.
- Electron Energy Loss Spectrometer (Gatan Quantum ER965)
- Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope (STEM) unit and Dark Field detector
- IDES UTEM conversion for JEM 2100 Plus
Femtosecond Laser:
- Fundamental source: Light Conversion Carbide 40W power and 290fs pulse duration @1030nm, 1Hz-1MHz repetition rate
- Optical Parametric Amplifier (OPA): Custom ORPHEUS-HP-F, providing wavelength conversion from 650-950 nm (Signal) to 1200-2500 nm (Idler)
- OPA accessories: Second-Harmonic (SH) module and Difference Frequency Generation (DFG) module, extending the fs pulse wavelength to 325–450 nm with SH and 2.2-16 um with DFG, respectively
- UV generation: HIRO 2H-3H-4H (515-343-258 nm)
Nanosecond Laser:
- High pulse energy: LITRON, 532 nm, 10 ns pulse duration
- High repetition rate: Bright Solutions ONDA, 532 nm, 2-10 ns pulse duration, 100 kHz repetition rate