
660 Phase contrast microscopy
1 µm
(a) (b) (c)
(d) (e) (f)
Fig. 10.40. (a) and (b) under- and over-focus Fresnel images (400 kV, zero-loss filtered)
ofa1× 2 µm Permalloy island on an Si
3
N
4
support membrane. The derivative ∂ I/∂ z is
shown in (c), along with the reconstructed phase φ in (d), and cos φ in (e). (f) is a vector
representation of the square area outlined in (c). (Sample courtesy of J. Chapman, Univ.
Glasgow.)
with a solid introduction to the physical principles underlying the interaction of
electrons with the specimen, and the subsequent propagation of those electrons
down the microscope column. If you like computers and simulations, then perhaps
the source code accompanying this book was just what you needed to get started. If
you are an experienced microscopist, it is hoped that you could find something new
in this text, perhaps a derivation that suddenly makes sense, or an illustration that
provoked what the German language so efficiently describes as an “Aha-Erlebnis”.
†
The field of electron optical methods is vast, and what you have learned in this
book is truly just an introduction to the operation and use of one the most important
instruments of materials science. The material covered in this text should give
you a basic knowledge of elastic scattering in crystalline matter. You can build on
this knowledge when you expand your studies to include inelastic scattering and
analytical observation methods.
†
An Aha-Erlebnis is “Ein eigenartiges im Denkverlauf auftretendes-lustbetontes Erlebnis, das sich bei pl¨otzlicher
Einsicht in einen zuerst undurchsichten Zusammenhang einstellt.” (K. B¨uhler, speech psychologist.)