Z-Contrast Imaging in the Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope

Z-contrast STEM using an annular detector can provide an intuitively interpretable, column-by-column, compositional map of crystals. Incoherent imaging reduces dynamical effects to second order so that the map directly reflects the positions of the atomic columns and their relative high-angle scattering power. This article outlines how these characteristics arise, presents some examples of the insights available from a direct image, and discusses recent developments of atomic-resolution microanalysis, direct structure retrieval by maximum entropy analysis, and Z-contrast imaging at 1.4 Å resolution using a 300-kV STEM.