Dark-Field and Marginal Imaging with a Thin-Annular Detector in STEM

The use of a thin annular detector in a scanning transmission electron microscope is shown, theoretically and experimentally, to allow several imaging modes that may be of value for the study of thin specimens. The diffraction pattern on the detector plane may be expanded or contracted by means of post-specimen lenses to vary the collection angle of the thin annular detector to form dark- or bright-field images. Dark-field images obtained from annuli of various radii in the diffraction pattern can selectively reveal different components of the sample, as illustrated in the case of a sample containing platinum crystallites, amorphous carbon, and carbon nanotubes. Amorphous materials of different composition can be distinguished by selecting the main maxima in their diffraction patterns. If the central beam is enlarged so that it just fills the inner aperture of the detector, the “marginal” imaging mode so achieved gives an image contrast that is proportional to the square of the differential of the projected potential distribution. Any deflection of the incident beam spot due to a change of the projected potential gives bright contrast in the image.