Archive




2014

Welcome to new staff scientists!

27/11/14

SuperSTEM extends a heartfelt welcome to three new staff scientists: Dr Patricia Abellan, Dr Ruth Chantry and Dr David Hernandez.

This enlargement of the SuperSTEM group together with the imminent delivery of our third aberration corrected instrument opens up new prospects of research at SuperSTEM.

Farewell to Tim Pennycook

30/10/14

SuperSTEM staff scientist Tim Pennycook has moved on to work with the Physics of Nanostructured Materials Group at the University of Vienna.

We wish him all the best!

Good Vibrations: Nature letter on vibrational spectroscopy in Nion HERMES

09/10/2014

In today's issue of Nature, Krivanek et al report on the new capabilities that the Nion HERMES will bring to electron microscopy: vibrational spectroscopy at high spatial resolution at features such as interfaces, grain boundaries, surfaces, nanoparticles; hydrogen detection for the first time in electron microscopy; aloof beam studies of beam sensitive materials.

Of course this is the instrument that will be delivered to SuperSTEM later this year (see Launch Event below). So come and join us at this event to learn more about the science it will enable.

[http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature13870]

See also the News and Views item "Materials Analysis: Good Vibrations" written by Rik Brydson:

[http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/514177a]

New paper in PNAS: Organic synthesis in extraterrestrial dust

07/10/2014

Lead author Christian Vollmer (Universitat Munster) collaborating with SuperSTEM staff Demie Kepaptsoglou and Quentin Ramasse, as well as researchers from the the Max-Planck-Institut für Chemie, University of Manchester and Carnegie Institution of Washington, investigate the origin of pristine organic matter located in primitive extraterrestrial samples, such as meteorites . The authors show that this pristine matter - among the most primitive organic molecules that were delivered to the early Earth 4.5 billion years ago - contains highly aromatic and nitrogen-containing organics, transformed rom an oxygen-rich organic reservoir by parent body fluidsynthesis in the early solar system.

C. Vollmer, D. Kepaptsoglou, J. Leitner, H. Busemann, N.H. Spring, Q.M. Ramasse, P. Hoppe and L.N. Nittler, Fluid-induced organic synthesis in the solar nebula recorded in extraterrestrial dust from meteorites, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Launch Event for SuperSTEM 3 - Nion HERMES monochromated, aberration-corrected STEM

07/10/2014

A Launch Meeting is being organised by EPSRC and SuperSTEM for the 19th and 20th of February 2015 at Daresbury Laboratory to celebrate the installation of the third SuperSTEM instrument, a Nion HERMES.

This instrument will boast <10meV energy resolution enabling phonon spectroscopy with atomic scale resolution, enhanced band gap measurements, etc... It will also offer improved spatial resolution at 60kV and lower voltages.

After a formal opening on the morning of 19 February there will be a seminar until lunchtime on 20 February. Watch this space for news of the speakers and programme and how to register for the meeting.

New paper in PRL: moving silicon atoms with atomic precision

16/09/2014

Lead author Toma Susi (University of Vienna) collaborating with SuperSTEM staff Quentin Ramasse and Demie Kepaptsoglou, as well as researchers at the University of Manchester, Nion Co. and at the University of Vienna, study the motion of single Si atoms substituted in graphene when irradiated by a 60kV electron beam in their latest paper in Physical Review Letters. They shed light on a fascinating silicon-carbon bond inversion mechanism that could provide the ability to move substitutional dopants in graphene with atomic precision.

T. Susi, J. Kotakoski, D.M. Kepaptsoglou, C. Mangler, T.C. Lovejoy, O.L. Krivanek, P. Ayala, J. Meyer and Q.M. Ramasse, Silicon-carbon bond inversions driven by 60 keV electrons in graphene, Physical Review Letters, [http://dx.doi.org/110.1103/PhysRevLett.113.115501]

NEW!! SuperSTEM Staff Scientist position available

20/08/2014

A SuperSTEM Staff Scientist post is available to provide research leadership and user support at the SuperSTEM Laboratory, the EPSRC UK National Facility for Aberration-Corrected Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM) http://www.superstem.org/. Based at the STFC Daresbury Laboratory, the post will be associated with the Department of Materials at the University of Oxford

The SuperSTEM Staff Scientist will undertake and lead aspects of research associated with aberration-corrected STEM machines, providing user support, contributing to the development of techniques and research funding applications, responsible for aspects of equipment maintenance and development, and undertaking administration and teaching as required.

The post is available immediately for a fixed-term of up to 24 months. Applicants should have a PhD in Physics, Materials, Engineering, Biology or a related field, or equivalent experience, with significant postdoctoral research experience in advanced electron microscopy.

The closing date for applications is 12.00 midday on 24 September 2014 with interviews currently planned for 15 October 2014.

https://www.recruit.ox.ac.uk/pls/hrisliverecruit/erq_jobspec_version_4.jobspec?p_id=114770

Please contact Prof. Quentin Ramasse (qmramasse@superstem.org) or Prof. Pete Nellist (peter.nellist@materials.ox.ac.uk) for informal inquiries.

Promoting a cleaner planet: work on MoS2 to appear on the cover of Angewandte Chemie

15/08/2014

SuperSTEM user Yuanyuan Zhu and scientific director Quentin Ramasse determined the stoichiometry of the catalytically important edge sites in single layer MoS2 nano-catalysts, atom by atom, visualising in particular the position of cobalt promoter atoms. These insights should facilitate the optimisation of methods for MoS2 nanocatalyst preparation. This work was carried out as part a highly successful collaboration between SuperSTEM, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Haldor Topsøe A/S, which has now yielded three successive covers of Angewandte Chemie!

Y. Zhu, Q.M. Ramasse, M. Brorson, P.G. Moses, L.P. Hansen, C.F. Kisielowski and S. Helveg, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 53 (2014), Early view article [http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.201405690]

SuperSTEM Summer School a great success!!

29/07/2014

Many thanks to all the participants and lecturers for making this year's Summer School a great success. We all thoroughly enjoyed welcoming you at the lab for these four days packed with lectures and social events and we hope to see you all soon in the future.

Watch this space for information on our next Summer School in two years' time.

The 6th biennial SuperSTEM Summer School on Advanced Topics in Aberration-Corrected STEM was possible thanks to generous contributions from ESTEEM2, EMS, HREM Research, Nion Co., Bruker and EPSRC.

Read more

Cu- and Ag-rich precipitates in Al-Mg-Si-Cu-Ag alloys revealed at atomic resolution

27/07/2014

A paper recently published in Scripta Materialia by SuperSTEM user Sigurd Wenner, from NTNU in Trondheim, in collaboration with staff members Demie Kepaptsoglou, Fredrik Hage and Quentin Ramasse, reveals the distribution of Cu and Ag columns in Cu- and Ag-rich precipitates in an Al–Mg–Si–Cu–Ag alloy.

S. Wenner, C.D. Marioara, Q.M. Ramasse, D.M. Kepaptsoglou, F.S. Hage and R. Holmestad, Scripta Materialia 74 (2014) 92–95. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2013.11.007]

SuperSTEM Research Fellow Vacancy

21/07/2014

A SuperSTEM Research Fellow/Staff Scientist position has been created to provide research leadership and user support at the SuperSTEM Laboratory, the EPSRC UK National Facility for Aberration-Corrected Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy.

The post is based at the SuperSTEM Laboratory at Daresbury with appropriate visits to the School of Process, Environmental and Materials Engineering at the University of Leeds and other partner or collaborator institutions. The post holder will be responsible for aspects of equipment maintenance/development and undertake and lead aspects of research associated with aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), to provide user support at a user facility, to contribute to the development of techniques, to contribute to gaining research funding, and to undertake administration and other teaching as requested by the Principal Investigator or Head of School.

The SuperSTEM Laboratory is situated at the Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus in Cheshire. It is the main site of the UK EPSRC National Aberration-Corrected STEM Facility. This is managed by a consortium of the Universities of Leeds, Oxford, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow. In 2012 SuperSTEM was awarded the contract to provide the National Facility for Aberration Corrected Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy until September 2016.

The Daresbury site houses two aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscopes with electron energy loss spectroscopy systems, SuperSTEM I and SuperSTEM II. Both instruments have been installed for several years and provide a high performance platform for advanced research. In March 2012, the consortium was awarded funds to purchase SuperSTEM III (a Nion HERMES), which will have a monochromator and chromatic aberration corrector, in addition to the spherical aberration corrector. This is due for installation in autumn 2014. In addition the Consortium and Partner Universities have aberration-corrected instruments which provide additional functionality and these can be accessed via the National Facility. Further details can be found at www.superstem.com.

A PhD in Physics, Materials, Engineering, Chemistry or a related field such as Biological Sciences, or equivalent experience is essential, as is a high level of expertise of the theory and practical experience of the operation of transmission electron microscopes.

Informal enquiries about the post may be made to Prof Rik Brydson, tel. +44 (0)11334 32369, email mtlrmdb@leeds.ac.uk.

University Grade 7 (£30,728 - £36,661 p.a.)

Further details can be found and application made via this link.

Closing date: 13 August 2014.

‘The University of Leeds’ commitment to women in science has been recognised with a national accolade. The University and the Faculty of Engineering have received the Athena SWAN Bronze Award in recognition of our success in recruiting, retaining and developing/promoting women in Science, Engineering and Technology (SET).’

The University offers generous terms and conditions of employment, a wide range of benefits, services, facilities and family friendly policies. Full details are available on the Human Resources web pages.

Stepped anti-phase boundaries in Ti-doped Bi0.9Nd0.15FeO3

23/06/2014

A team of researchers at the Universities of Glasgow and Sheffield, in collaboration with SuperSTEM's Bernhard Schaffer and Quentin Ramasse, have just published a paper in APL Materials reporting on the atomic structure and chemistry of Fe-rich steps on antiphase boundaries in Ti-doped Bi0.9Nd0.15FeO3. These steps, studied using a combination of EELS and HAADF are also found to be negatively charged, resulting in a polarization of the surrounding matrix.

I. MacLaren, L. Wang, A.J. Craven, Q.M. Ramasse, B. Schaffer, K. Kalantari and I.M. Reaney, APL Materials 2, 066106 (2014). [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4884684]

2013

Scanning transmission electron microscopy explained by SuperSTEM's Dr Kepaptsoglou

Happy Birthday Rik!

17/10/13

Despite best intentions the SuperSTEM team failed to surprise the chair of the executive committee with a birthday dinner.

SuperSTEM welcomes new staff scientist Dr Gareth Vaughan

27/09/13

SuperSTEM is pleased to announce that Dr Gareth Vaughan is joining the on-site team on October 1st.

Dr Budhika Mendis: the new SuperSTEM User Representative

06/09/13

Dr Budhika Mendis from the University of Durham was appointed as the SuperSTEM user representative at the SuperSTEM user meeting which took place during the EMAG conference in York, 3-6 September 2013. We are grateful for him to accept this position. Budhika was himself a SuperSTEM staff scientist from 2007 to 2008 and since then has returned to SuperSTEM periodically as a user of the facility. He can be contacted by email: b.g.mendis@durham.ac.uk.

New instrument casts its shadows

Building works have started at SuperSTEM to erect an extension to the main building. The extension will house the new cutting-edge SSTEM III microscope, a Nion UltraSTEM 100 equipped with a monochromator. The new instrument will provide monochromation of the illuminating beam, chromatic aberration correction of the probe-forming beam and improved instrument stability.

Following the completion of the building works in the summer of 2013 and the delivery of the new instrument at the turn of the year, the enhanced capabilities of SSTEM III will be available for users in the first half of 2014.

Window to the Nano World

SuperSTEM Research features in the inaugural issue of Science Omega Review UK.

Science Omega Review UK provides coverage of the challenges and opportunities presented by science and technology within their respective regions. With a host of opinions from science experts, leading authorities and influential groups, the Science Omega Review series serves as a bridge between policymakers, researchers, academics and industry.

For the digital reader of Issue 1 follow this link.

Welcome to Dr Fredrik Hage

SuperSTEM is looking forward to welcoming Dr Fredrik Hage who will join the on-site team end of March.

SuperSTEM Research picked as Research Highlight in

Nature Nanotechnology 8, 75 (2013), DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2013.13

Probing the Bonding and Electronic Structure of Single Atom Dopants in Graphene with Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy

Nano Lett., 2013, 13 (10), pp 4989–4995

DOI: 10.1021/nl304187e

Novel Nanorods on Front Cover

Novel Nanorod Precipitate Formation in Neodymium and Titanium Codoped Bismuth Ferrite

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adfm.201201835/abstract

2012

Meet SuperSTEM at emc2012 in Manchester

16/08/12

SuperSTEM scientists are presenting their research at the emc2012 in Manchester, 16th - 21st September 2012. Some topics are:

  • Identification of single atoms using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy
  • Aberration-corrected SuperSTEM analysis of isotropically anomalous carbonaceous hotspots in primitive extreterestrial samples
  • Probing two-dimensional materials one atom at a time in a scanning transmission electron microscope
  • STEM- EELS low loss mapping of carbon nanocones
  • EELS investigation of quantum confinement in Si nanostructures

You have also the opportunity to learn about the latest SuperSTEM research and talk to SuperSTEM scientists at the SuperSTEM stand (520, near the VIP and RMS area) in the exhibition hall during the conference.

Graphene re-knits its holes

12/07/12

The BBC picked up on recent research carried out at SuperSTEM and the University of Manchester that demonstrates that Graphene undergoes a self-repairing process to correct holes. Remarkably, the re-grown structure is not necessarily the usual graphene 'honeycomb', but consists in an almost random assembly of 5-, 6-, 7- or even 8-member rings. In other words, this is a 2D 'quasi'-amorphous structure!

Read more on BBC's website or read the original paper by Recep Zan et al.!

SuperSTEM Staff Scientist Vacancy

25/06/2012

A staff scientist position has been created to provide research leadership and user support at the SuperSTEM Laboratory, the EPSRC UK National Facility for Aberration-Corrected Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy. Though based at the Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus, the post will be associated with the School of Physics & Astronomy, University of Glasgow. The University of Glasgow, along with the Universities of Leeds, Liverpool, Oxford and Manchester are the managing universities of SuperSTEM, which is contracted to provide the UK National Aberration-Corrected Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy Research Facility until September 2016

The last EPSRC review panel (2005) rated the SuperSTEM facility ‘internationally outstanding’. Highlights of research impact since this review include:

  • A total of 101 journal publications with users (9 Nature group/PRL)
  • 32 invited talks and 23 conference contributions since 2007
  • first demonstration of atomically resolved EELS mapping
  • significant contribution to 2010 Nobel prize winning work on graphene

You will undertake and lead aspects of research associated with aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and will provide user support at a user facility and contribute to the development of techniques.

It is expected that you will contribute to gaining research funding, with an additional responsibility for aspects equipment maintenance and development. You will undertake administration and other teaching as requested by the Principal Investigator or Head of School.

A PhD in Physics, Materials, Engineering, Chemistry or a related field, or equivalent experience is essential, as is a high level of expertise of the theory and practical experience of the operation of transmission electron microscopes.

Informal enquiries (not applications) about the post may be made to Dr Ian MacLaren (ian.maclaren@glasgow.ac.uk) or Prof Mervyn Shannon (mshannon@superstem.org).

Apply online at www.glasgow.ac.uk/jobs or via the direct link

Closing date: 15 August 2012.

Registration for Summer School now closed

21/06/2012

Registration for the 5th Summer School on Aberration-Corrected STEM to be held 14-16 September is now closed, as the maximum number of registrants has been reached.

Only a few places left on the Summer School

12/06/2012

Hurry! There are only a very few places left on the 5th Summer School on Aberration-Corrected STEM to be held 14-16 September. See the Registration link on our Home page.

Funding for SuperSTEM III secured !

01/03/2012

The aim of the EPSRC National Facility for Aberration-Corrected STEM is to provide its users/collaborators with the most detailed characterisation possible of important materials at the atomic scale. To achieve this we need to embrace the latest innovations in electron source monochromation technology and chromatic aberration correction through the installation of a third instrument (see also Roadmap).

Following a successful business case made in September 2011, an EPSRC proposal for capital equipment funding at SuperSTEM was submitted in early December 2011 and approved in February 2012.

Implementing chromatic aberration correction will provide high spatial resolution at the low acceleration voltages required to minimise radiation damage. Incorporating efficient monochromation will make new spectroscopic information accessible in the core-loss, plasmonic and possibly even phonon region of the EELS spectrum.

This new capability will come on-line for users in early 2014.

Welcome to Dr Tim Pennycook

SuperSTEM welcomes Dr Tim Pennycook who has joined the on-site team.

2011

18 December 2011, SuperSTEM Diamonds at Brian Cox's "A Night with the Stars"

16/11/2011

Two high resolution diamond dumbbell images from SuperSTEM's Iain Godfrey's diamond research project were selected by the BBC to be shown as part of Brian Cox's BBC special "A Night with the Stars" . The programme will start at 9pm on BBC2 on Sunday, 18 December 2011.

Invitation to Launch Day of the EPSRC National Facility of Aberration Corrected STEM

01/11/2011

To mark the launch of the new National Facility for Aberration Corrected STEM provided by SuperSTEM and funded by EPSRC, SuperSTEM will hold an opening ceremony with inauguration lectures and a poster and discussion session on Wednesday 11 January 2012. It will take place in the Atrium at the STFC Daresbury laboratory. More details.

Comings and Goings

06/12/2011

SuperSTEM's Bernhard Schaffer and Miroslava Schaffer have recently moved to Germany, working now at Gatan and the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, respectively. And Michael Sarahan is leaving for the US to work for Gatan over there. Our best wishes to all of them!

At the same time SuperSTEM welcomes Demie Kepaptsoglou as new staff scientist who has come from the University of Oslo and we are looking forward to Tim Pennycook who will join the SuperSTEM team in February 2012.

SuperSTEM Staff Scientist Vacancy

09/08/2011

One, possibly two, fixed-term Staff Scientists position(s) have been created to provide research leadership and user support at the SuperSTEM Laboratory, the EPSRC UK National Facility for Aberration-Corrected Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy. Though based at the SuperSTEM facility at the STFC Daresbury Laboratory in Cheshire, one post will be associated with the Department of Materials, University of Manchester, and the other possible post with the Department of Materials at the University of Oxford. The Universities of Manchester and Oxford, along with the Universities of Glasgow, Leeds and Liverpool, are the managing universities of SuperSTEM. The last EPSRC review panel (2005) rated the SuperSTEM facility ‘internationally outstanding’. Highlights of research impact since this review include:

  • A total of 101 journal publications with users (9 Nature group/PRL)
  • 32 invited talks and 23 conference contributions since 2007
  • first demonstration of atomically resolved EELS mapping
  • significant contribution to 2010 Nobel prize winning work on graphene

The Staff Scientist position(s) (Manchester Ref EPS/12725; Oxford Ref 100697) are created to undertake and lead aspects of research associated with aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), to provide user support at a user facility, to contribute to the development of techniques, to contribute to gaining research funding, to be responsible for aspects equipment maintenance and development, and to undertake administration and other teaching as required. These posts are available immediately for a term of 12 months in the first instance. The SuperSTEM consortium is the successful bidder to operate the UK National Aberration-Corrected Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy Research Facility, and on finalisation of the contracts these posts will be extended for at least a further 24 months.

Applicants should have a PhD in Physics, Materials, Engineering, Biology or a related field, or equivalent experience, with at least two years’ post-doctoral research experience in advanced electron microscopy. It is important that candidates read the further particulars, including instructions which should be followed closely when applying for this post.

It is important that candidates submit applications to both Manchester and Oxford (these can be identical applications) if they wish to be considered for both posts.

For further details of the University of Manchester post see http://www.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/jobs/research (and search for vacancy ID EPS/12725) ; for the University of Oxford post please visit the website https://www.recruit.ox.ac.uk (and search for vacancy ID 100697). The closing date for applications is midday on 23 September 2011 with interviews currently planned for the week beginning 24 October 2011.

Extended SuperSTEM consortium will run the new EPSRC National Facility for AC STEM

06/08/2011

The Universities of Manchester and Oxford will be joining the SuperSTEM consortium in conjunction with the re-launch of SuperSTEM as the £4.5M EPSRC National Facility for Aberration-Corrected STEM in mid-September.

Scientists of both Universities have long standing collaborations with SuperSTEM. These collaborations include the characterisation of graphene (which contributed to the Nobel Prize winning word of Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov), other 2-D crystals, nanotubes, nanowires, ceramics and composites.

The extended SuperSTEM consortium, now consisting of the Universities of Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Oxford and led by the University of Leeds, carried forward the successful bid for the new EPSRC National Facility. The contract award for SuperSTEM is a testament to the internationally leading research carried out under the existing smaller SuperSTEM consortium and the future capabilities of the extended SuperSTEM consortium.

The new EPSRC National Facility for Aberration-Corrected STEM will provide “free at point of use” access to cutting-edge instruments for EPSRC funded researchers within the UK, and, also for non-EPSRC and commercial users within the utilisation limits of the facility and subject to funding. The principal location of the new EPSRC National Facility will be the SuperSTEM site at the STFC Daresbury Laboratory.

The expansion of the SuperSTEM consortium not only strenghtens the collaborations between the Universities and SuperSTEM but also allows users of the EPSRC National Facility access to specialised aberration corrected instruments at the the new consortium universities, and external partner Universities such as Cambridge, Sheffield and Warwick where required. These will provide access to additional important capabilities for STEM users.

Meet SuperSTEM at M&M 2011 in Nashville

02/08/2011

SuperSTEM scientists Rik Brydson, Quentin Ramasse, Michael Sarahan, Bernhard Schaffer and Miroslava Schaffer are presenting their research at the M&M in Nashville, 7-11 August. Some topics are:

  • Optimized FIB Sample Preparation for Atomic Resolution Analytical STEM at Low kV - A Key Requirement for Successful Application
  • Metal Graphene Interaction Studied via Atomic Resolution Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy
  • Applications of Atomic-Resolution EELS Mapping at Low kV
  • Novel Multivariate Statistical Analysis Methods for STEM/EELS
  • Designing Semiconductor Photocatalyst/ Metal Cocatalyst Composites for Water Splitting

New SuperSTEM handbook on aberration corrected STEM in press with Wiley!

19/07/2011

This new 270 page book has been jointly co-authored by a large number members of the SuperSTEM team and will finally be published in 2011. The book has arisen from the content of the SuperSTEM Summer Schools and includes integrated chapters on: general electron microscopy, STEM instrumentation and its development, STEM bright field and dark field imaging, lens aberrations, both probe and image correction using multipole lenses, analytical aspects of STEM and applications of aberration corrected STEM. Pre-order your copy today!

SuperSTEM to continue as AC-STEM facility

28/06/2011

EPSRC has chosen SuperSTEM (in a growing collaboration of the Universities of Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Oxford and led by the University of Leeds) as successful bidder for an EPSRC National Facility for Scanning Transmission Electron-Microscopy (EPSRC Reference: RE-10-0005-EPSRC-STEM), see Progress of mid-range facilities review. The tendering process is at the contract negotiation stage. The new contract will commence at the end of the existing 5 year EPSRC grant (September 2011) with no gap in service.

Congratulations to Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov on their Nobel Prize in Physics

05/10/2010

SuperSTEM congratulate Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov of the University of Manchester on their Nobel Prize in Physics. We are proud to have played a role in characterising graphene sheets with them, and confidently expect a torrent of interest in developing further applications and modifications of graphene.

Some publications on graphene:

A Bye to A.B.

25/01/2011

Professor Andrew Bleloch has moved to Halcyon in California and we all wish him immense good fortune. Andrew was involved from the outset in the development of the "Synchrotron in a Microscope" concept by Mick Brown that eventually became the SuperSTEM project and Facility. He was Technical Director of the Facility from 2001 until he became Principal Investigator in 2008. Andrew's deep understanding of the physics of analytical STEM and of materials science, his enthusiasm, encouragement and general good humour were and are an inspiration to us. Andrew will continue to give advice when he can.

Professor Gordon Tatlock takes over as PI on the current EPSRC grant.

2010

Krivanek elected to Royal Society

25/05/2010

It is with great pleasure that we have learned of the election of Dr. Ondrej Krivanek to the Royal Society of London. Dr. Krivanek is the co-founder of NION, manufacturer of aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopes which currently hold the world records for analytical performance. The citation put before the electors reads:

Ondrej Krivanek is at the forefront of pioneering advances that have endowed electron microscopy with the ability to image and analyze matter atom-by-atom. His early work improved an existing electron microscope and used it to image directly, for the first time, the atomic structure of defects in semiconductors. He next designed several instruments for electron energy loss spectrometry (EELS). These are now used by hundreds of researchers world-wide. He also co-authored an EELS atlas, which is a standard reference source for spectra. Recently he designed and built a practical aberration corrector, thereby reaching a goal that had remained elusive for some fifty years. His novel microscopes are now able to map chemical elements in solid samples with atomic resolution and single atom sensitivity.

SuperSTEM welcomes new staff!

05/05/2010

Dr Miroslava Schaffer and Dr Michael Sarahan have joined the SuperSTEM on-site team.

Registration for ESTEEM workshop on Aberration Corrected STEM at SuperSTEM, 02-05 July 2010, is now open!

01/03/2010

Please register as soon as possible as places are limited. ESTEEM places are filling up rapidly!

Good Bye!

15/02/2010

SuperSTEM's Kasim Sader is now working at the Division of Physical Biochemistry at the National Institutes for Medical Research on determining the structure of the Influenza C virus by electron cryomicroscopy. Our Best Wishes!

Averaged EELS line scans retaining atomic resolution

12/02/2010

Using a customized STEM EELS acquisition technique it is possible to reduce beam damage by spreading the dose along a rapidly scanned line during spectrum acquisition while keeping the atomic resolution of the UltraSTEM along a line profile. (read more)

In Memory of Albert Crewe

10/02/2010

We sadly record the death of Albert Victor Crewe on 18 November 2009. Prof. Crewe was a graduate of Liverpool University who emigrated to Chicago and became Director of the Argonne National Laboratory in 1961. He recognised the revolutionary implications of replacing conventional thermal emission electron sources by field emission sources, and was the first to implement this far-reaching change. It enabled him to produce scanning transmission images of single atoms, and the first useful electron energy loss spectra. At the University of Chicago he led a remarkable team of young physicists who now carry forward the nanoscience his invention enabled. It was a great pleasure to all concerned when he opened the first SuperSTEM Laboratory in Daresbury in 2003. He was a remarkable innovator and a visionary, who ushered in atomic resolution microscopy.


Welcome and Good-Bye!

01/02/2010

Dr Quentin Ramasse has joined the SuperSTEM on-site team and SuperSTEM's Dr. Mhairi Gass has started a new career in the industry. All the Best!

Zinc-blende quantum well in a wurtzite segment

20/01/2010

a) Aberration corrected HAADF High Resolution Scanning Transmission Electron Micrograph (HRSTEM) of a zinc-blende quantum well in a wurtzite segment.

b) An atomistic model of a wurzite/zinc-blende/wurtzite heterostructures along with a schemitcs of the band diagram. The Ga and As atoms have been marked in orange and green, respectively, for the WZ domains, and in red and blue, respectively for the double unit zinc-blende quantum well

Really Old News

2009

Newsflash, 1 .11.

SuperSTEM welcomes new staff

Prof. Mervyn Shannon has now joined the SuperSTEM on-site team.

Newsflash, 27.10.SuperSTEM open position

The following post is currently announced within the SuperSTEM project:

  • Research Associate

Job application deadline 20.11.2009.

Interviews will take place at the SuperSTEM Laboratory on 17 December 2009


Newsflash, 25.09.SuperSTEM image won Photographic Competition

Kasim Sader's competition entry has won the first prize in this year's

Human Health and Wellbeing in Engineering Photographic Competition.

It will also be displaced at the Thackray Medical Museum in Leeds from September though October 2009.


Image GalleryMagnesium oxide captured from the smoke of burning magnesium metal, September

Image Gallery Cellular Structure, August


Newsflash, 01.06.SuperSTEM welcomes new staff

Dr. Dorothea Muecke-Herzberg has now joined the SuperSTEM on-site team.


Newsflash, 14.04.Survey of the UK Electron Microscopy community on Mid-Range Facilities

The EPSRC is conducting a survey of mid-range facilities in the UK. These are facilities such as SuperSTEM, MEIS and the Surrey Ion Beam Centre. An important part of this exercise is to consult the community to ascertain the need for such facilities. The funding of existing and priorities for future facilities will depend on the outcome of this exercise.

  • Thank you to all participants of the survey

Newsflash, 17.02.SuperSTEM job opportunities

The following posts are currently announced within the SuperSTEM project:

  • Research Assistant
  • Postdoctoral Researcher
  • Co-Director of the SuperSTEM Facility

Job application deadline 13.03.2009.

Image Gallery Human hepatic ferritin mineral core, January


2008

Image Gallery Gold nanoparticles imaged at 80 kV,December


Newsflash, 08.11.

SuperSTEM's Dr. Budhika Mendis has now moved to Durham University to begin his new lectureship. We congratulate.


Newsflash, 05.10.

SuperSTEM presented 'Playing with Atoms' at the BA festival of science and Daresbury Mini Science Festival.

Daresbury Mini-Festival of Science , 05.October


Newsflash, 01.09.

SuperSTEM's Dr. Peng Wang has now moved to University of Oxford to work on scanning confocal electron microscopy (SCEM) with Dr. Peter Nellist.


Newsflash, 12.08.

Congratulations to Linshu Jiang for passing her PhD viva. Linshu's project was on discrete tomography of nanoparticles.


Newsflash, 22.01.

SuperSTEM2, the first 5th order aberration corrected STEM in the world, was inaugurated on 22 . January 2008 by Prof. David Delpy FRS, head of EPSRC. The microscope is now being used for research by the UK and international scientific communities.