The atom-by-atom analysis of individual nanostructures is an important goal in nanoscience that was first formulated by the famous physicist Richard Feynman. Feynman proposed that one could analyze any substance simply by looking to see where the atoms are. Despite major progress, Feynman’s challenge to electron microscopy is still out of reach. The TEAM project is a collaborative effort to redesign the electron microscope around aberration-corrected optics in order to extend the spatial resolution to 50 pm, improve contrast, stability, sensitivity, brightness, and energy resolution. Using a prototype instrument constructed under this project, it was possible to demonstrate information transfer to below 50 pm in both the scanning probe and fixed-beam modes of transmission electron microscopy.
 
Among several new capabilities enabled by the TEAM microscope is the ability to use aberration correction to attain 3D information by depth sectioning. The movie shows the atomic structure of a defect in a gold crystal that is less than 100 nm thick. When the electron beam is focused on the top surface of the crystal, the defect traverses the entire image diagonally. As the point of focus moves toward the bottom surface, the appearance of the defect changes. This experiment reveals important 3D information about the defect.

A full account of the performance of the prototype TEAM 0.5 microscope is available here (download pdf).