Standardless Atom Counting in Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy

Abstract

We demonstrate that high-angle annular dark-field imaging in scanning transmission electron microscopy allows for quantification of the number and location of all atoms in a three-dimensional, crystalline, arbitrarily shaped specimen without the need for a calibration standard. We show that the method also provides for an approach to directly measure the finite effective source size of a scanning transmission electron microscope.