Building the Microscopes of Tomorrow

The STROBE Science & Technology Center brings together imaging science experts from seven universities and partners with national labs, industry and academe to push the boundaries of imaging science capabilities and technologies, while building a diverse workforce that is prepared for 21st century careers in science and technology.

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

The hierarchical structure of organic mixed ionic–electronic conductors as revealed with 4D-STEM

Y. Tsarfati, et al., Nature Materials, (2024).

Polymeric organic mixed ionic–electronic conductors (OMIECs) underpin several technologies where their electrochemical properties are desirable. These properties however depend on . . .

Neural space-time model for dynamic scene recovery in multi-shot computational imaging

R. Cao, et al., Nature Methods, (2024).

Computational imaging reconstructions from multiple measurements that are captured sequentially often suffer from motion artifacts if the scene is dynamic. . . .

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STROBE IN THE NEWS

Bringing clarity to computational imaging

September 30, 2024|University of California Berkeley|

New tool removes motion artifacts when imaging dynamic samples. Imaging microscopic samples requires capturing multiple, . . .

X-ray vision

August 29, 2024|Michigan Engineering News|

One of the first experimenters at the new flagship US laser, Michigan alum Franklin Dollar’s . . .

STROBE AWARDS

Congratulations to Franklin Dollar for Receiving the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)

January 15, 2025|The White House|

Today, President Biden awarded nearly 400 scientists and engineers the Presidential Early Career Award for . . .

Congratulations to Iona Binnie for Receiving Best Poster Award at the Joint MMM-Intermag Conference 2025

January 15, 2025|Joint MMM-Intermag|

Graduate Student Iona Binnie has received the Best Poster Award for her poster titled "Enhanced . . .

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More Awards

STROBE IN THE NEWS

Bringing clarity to computational imaging

September 30, 2024|University of California Berkeley|

New tool removes motion artifacts when imaging dynamic samples. Imaging microscopic samples requires capturing multiple, . . .

X-ray vision

August 29, 2024|Michigan Engineering News|

One of the first experimenters at the new flagship US laser, Michigan alum Franklin Dollar’s . . .

More News

STROBE AWARDS

Congratulations to Franklin Dollar for Receiving the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)

January 15, 2025|The White House|

Today, President Biden awarded nearly 400 scientists and engineers the Presidential Early Career Award for . . .

Congratulations to Iona Binnie for Receiving Best Poster Award at the Joint MMM-Intermag Conference 2025

January 15, 2025|Joint MMM-Intermag|

Graduate Student Iona Binnie has received the Best Poster Award for her poster titled "Enhanced . . .

More Awards

Reversible Electron Beam Patterning of Colloidal N

Computational microscopy beyond perfect lenses X. $Computational microscopy beyond perfect lenses X. Lu, M. Pham, E. Negrini, D. Davis, S. J. Osher, J. Miao, Physical Review E, 110, 054407, (2024). DOI: 10.1103/physreve.110.054407 We demonstrate that in situ coherent diffractive imaging (CDI), which leverages the coherent interference between strong and weak beams to illuminate static and dynamic structures, can serve as a highly dose-efficient imaging method. At low doses, in situ CDI can achieve higher resolution than perfect lenses with the point spread function as a delta function. Both our numerical simulations and experimental results demonstrate that combining in situ CDI with ptychography can reduce the required dose by up to two orders of magnitude compared with ptychography alone. We anticipate that computational microscopy based on in situ CDI can be applied across various imaging modalities using photons and electrons for low-dose imaging of radiation-sensitive materials and biological samples.$

Deep UV Transient Grating for Ultrafast Nanoscale $Deep UV Transient Grating for Ultrafast Nanoscale Carrier Transport Measurements in Ultrawide-Bandgap Materials E. E. Nelson, B. McBennett, T. H. Culman, A. Beardo, H. C. Kapteyn, M. H. Frey, M. R. Atkinson, M. M. Murnane, J. L. Knobloch, Physical Review Applied, 22, 054007, (2024). DOI: 10.1103/physrevapplied.22.054007 Understanding nanoscale electron and phonon transport is critical for the development of next-generation semiconductor technologies, where deviations from macroscopic behaviors can either limit or enhance device performance. While transient gratings generated by the interference of visible lasers can directly excite microscopic, nonequilibrium charge and heat distributions in metals and traditional semiconductors, extending this noncontact approach to ultrawide-bandgap materials involves added complexities. To address these challenges, here we introduce a tabletop deep-ultraviolet (DUV; 6.3 eV) transient grating setup, and show that it supports sub-300 nm spatial and subpicosecond temporal resolution. As an initial demonstration, we excite and probe gigahertz surface acoustic waves in thin gold films. We then perform DUV transient grating measurements of nanoscale carrier transport in diamond and discuss the carrier concentration-dependent diffusion coefficient. This DUV transient grating capability provides a versatile, noncontact tool for investigating transport at length scales below the visible diffraction limit and in wide-bandgap materials, and bridges the gap between visible and facility-scale extreme-ultraviolet transient grating capabilities.$

Aberration correction in epi-fluorescence microsco $Aberration correction in epi-fluorescence microscopy using unknown speckle illumination E. Premillieu, A. M. Caravaca-Aguirre, S. Labouesse, K. Irsch, R. Piestun, Optics Express, 32, 37658, (2024). DOI: 10.1364/oe.526148 Diffraction-limited imaging in epi-fluorescence microscopy remains a challenge when sample aberrations are present or when the region of interest rests deep within an inhomogeneous medium. Adaptive optics is an attractive solution, albeit with limited field of view and requiring relatively complicated systems. Alternatively, reconstruction algorithms have been developed over the years to correct for aberrations. Unfortunately, purely post-processing techniques tend to be ill-posed and provide only incremental improvements in image quality. Here, we report a computational optical approach using unknown speckle illumination and a matched reconstruction algorithm to correct for aberrations and reach or surpass diffraction limited resolution. The data acquisition is performed by shifting an unknown speckle pattern with respect to a fluorescent object. A key advantage is that the speckle statistics are preserved upon propagation through the aberrations, which avoids the double pass of information through the aberrating medium typical of epi-fluorescence microscopy. The method recovers simultaneously a high-resolution image, the point spread function of the system that contains the aberrations, the speckle illumination pattern, and the shift positions.$

Real-time optical thickness determination for prod

Space-time reconstruction for lensless imaging usi

Structure-guided mutagenesis targeting interaction

Structural Heterogeneity of the Rabies Virus Virio

Neural space–time model for dynamic multi-shot i

The hierarchical structure of organic mixed ionic–electronic conductors and its evolution in water

Y. Tsarfati, K. C. Bustillo, B. H. Savitzky, L. Balhorn, T. J. Quill, A. Marks, J. Donohue, S. E. Zeltmann, C. J. Takacs, A. Giovannitti, I. McCulloch, C. Ophus, A. M. Minor, A. Salleo, Nature Materials, (2024).

DOI: 10.1038/s41563-024-02016-6

Polymeric organic mixed ionic–electronic conductors underpin several technologies in which their electrochemical properties are desirable. These properties, however, depend on the microstructure that develops in their aqueous operational environment. We investigated the structure of a model organic mixed ionic–electronic conductor across multiple length scales using cryogenic four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy in both its dry and hydrated states. Four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy allows us to identify the prevalent defects in the polymer crystalline regions and to analyse the liquid crystalline nature of the polymer. The orientation maps of the dry and hydrated polymers show that swelling-induced disorder is mostly localized in discrete regions, thereby largely preserving the liquid crystalline order. Therefore, the liquid crystalline mesostructure makes electronic transport robust to electrolyte ingress. This study demonstrates that cryogenic four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy provides multiscale structural insights into complex, hierarchical structures such as polymeric organic mixed ionic–electronic conductors, even in their hydrated operating state.

Analytical Scaling Laws for Radiofrequency-Based P $Analytical Scaling Laws for Radiofrequency-Based Pulse Compression in Ultrafast Electron Diffraction Beamlines P. Denham, P. Musumeci, Instruments, 7, 49, (2023). DOI: 10.3390/instruments7040049 We present an envelope equation-based approach to obtain analytical scaling laws for the shortest pulse length achievable using radiofrequency (RF)-based bunch compression. The derived formulas elucidate the dependencies on the electron beam energy and beam charge and reveal how relativistic energies are strongly desirable to obtain bunches containing 1 million electrons with single-digit femtosecond pulse lengths. However, the non-linearities associated with the RF curvature and the beam propagation in drift spaces significantly limit the attainability of extreme compression ratios. Therefore, an additional higher frequency RF cavity is implemented, which linearizes the bunch compression, enabling the generation of ultrashort beams in the sub-femtosecond regime.$

Speculum-free portable preterm imaging system T.

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