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    Liquid-Phase Electron Microscopy for Soft Matter Science and Biology
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH Verlag, 2020) Wu, H.; Friedrich, H.; Patterson, J.P.; Sommerdijk, N.A.J.M.; de Jonge, N.
    Innovations in liquid-phase electron microscopy (LP-EM) have made it possible to perform experiments at the optimized conditions needed to examine soft matter. The main obstacle is conducting experiments in such a way that electron beam radiation can be used to obtain answers for scientific questions without changing the structure and (bio)chemical processes in the sample due to the influence of the radiation. By overcoming these experimental difficulties at least partially, LP-EM has evolved into a new microscopy method with nanometer spatial resolution and sub-second temporal resolution for analysis of soft matter in materials science and biology. Both experimental design and applications of LP-EM for soft matter materials science and biological research are reviewed, and a perspective of possible future directions is given.
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    Photoemission electron microscopy of magneto-ionic effects in La0.7Sr0.3MnO3
    (Melville, NY : AIP Publ., 2020) Wilhelm, Marek; Giesen, Margret; Duchoň, Tomáš; Moors, Marco; Mueller, David N.; Hackl, Johanna; Baeumer, Christoph; Hamed, Mai Hussein; Cao, Lei; Zhang, Hengbo; Petracic, Oleg; Glöß, Maria; Cramm, Stefan; Nemšák, Slavomír; Wiemann, Carsten; Dittmann, Regina; Schneider, Claus M.; Müller, Martina
    Magneto-ionic control of magnetism is a promising route toward the realization of non-volatile memory and memristive devices. Magneto-ionic oxides are particularly interesting for this purpose, exhibiting magnetic switching coupled to resistive switching, with the latter emerging as a perturbation of the oxygen vacancy concentration. Here, we report on electric-field-induced magnetic switching in a La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 (LSMO) thin film. Correlating magnetic and chemical information via photoemission electron microscopy, we show that applying a positive voltage perpendicular to the film surface of LSMO results in the change in the valence of the Mn ions accompanied by a metal-to-insulator transition and a loss of magnetic ordering. Importantly, we demonstrate that the voltage amplitude provides granular control of the phenomena, enabling fine-tuning of the surface electronic structure. Our study provides valuable insight into the switching capabilities of LSMO that can be utilized in magneto-ionic devices. © 2020 Author(s).
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    Electron microscopy of nanoparticle superlattice formation at a solid-liquid interface in nonpolar liquids
    (Washington, DC : American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2020) Cepeda-Perez, E.; Doblas, D.; Kraus, T.; de Jonge, N.
    Nanoparticle superlattice films form at the solid-liquid interface and are important for mesoscale materials, but are notoriously difficult to analyze before they are fully dried. Here, the early stages of nanoparticle assembly were studied at solid-liquid interfaces using liquid-phase electron microscopy. Oleylamine-stabilized gold nanoparticles spontaneously formed thin layers on a silicon nitride (SiN) membrane window of the liquid enclosure. Dense packings of hexagonal symmetry were obtained for the first monolayer independent of the nonpolar solvent type. The second layer, however, exhibited geometries ranging from dense packing in a hexagonal honeycomb structure to quasi-crystalline particle arrangements depending on the dielectric constant of the liquid. The complex structures formed by the weaker interactions in the second particle layer were preserved, while the surface remained immersed in liquid. Fine-tuning the properties of the involved materials can thus be used to control the three-dimensional geometry of a superlattice including quasi-crystals.