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

High-fidelity imaging of highly periodic structures enabled by vortex high harmonic beams

B. Wang, et al., Optica, 10, 1245-1252, (2023).

STROBE scientists solved a major imaging challenge by demonstrating high fidelity short wavelength imaging of highly-periodic structures for the . . .

Detecting, distinguishing, and spatiotemporally tracking photogenerated charge and heat at the nanoscale

H. L. Weaver, et al., ACS Nano, 17, 19011-19021, (2023).

Since dissipative processes are ubiquitous in semiconductors, characterizing how electronic and thermal energy transduce and transport at the nanoscale is . . .

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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 . . .

STROBE AWARDS

Congratulations to Christian Tanner for Receiving the 2024 SSRL Scientific Development Award

September 20, 2024|SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory|

Tanner works on self-assembling nanocrystals, which could be the basis for less expensive, easier to . . .

Congratulations to Laura Waller for being Awarded the Max Planck-Humboldt Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Computational Microscopy

September 10, 2024|The Max Planck Society and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation|

Laura Waller, professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences at University of California Berkeley, . . .

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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 . . .

More News

STROBE AWARDS

Congratulations to Christian Tanner for Receiving the 2024 SSRL Scientific Development Award

September 20, 2024|SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory|

Tanner works on self-assembling nanocrystals, which could be the basis for less expensive, easier to . . .

Congratulations to Laura Waller for being Awarded the Max Planck-Humboldt Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Computational Microscopy

September 10, 2024|The Max Planck Society and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation|

Laura Waller, professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences at University of California Berkeley, . . .

More Awards

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.

Low-density diamondlike amorphous carbon at nanost $Low-density diamondlike amorphous carbon at nanostructured metal-diamond interfaces B. McBennett, Y. Esashi, N. W. Jenkins, A. Beardo, Y. Shao, E. E. Nelson, T. H. Culman, B. Abad, M. Tanksalvala, T. D. Frazer, S. Marks, W. Chao, S. Yazdi, J. L. Knobloch, H. C. Kapteyn, M. M. Murnane, Physical Review Materials, 8, 096001, (2024). DOI: 10.1103/physrevmaterials.8.096001 Next-generation nanoelectronic, energy, and quantum technologies require increasingly stringent thermal, optical, mechanical, and electrical properties of component materials, often surpassing the limits of widely used materials such as silicon. Diamond, an ultrawide bandgap semiconductor, is a promising material for these applications because of its very high stiffness, thermal conductivity, and electron mobility. However, incorporating diamond into devices that require high-quality metal-diamond interfaces is challenging. In this work, we use a suite of electron microscopy measurements to reveal an ultrathin amorphous carbon layer that emerges at metal-diamond interfaces after electron beam lithography. Using extreme ultraviolet scatterometry, we nondestructively determine lower bounds on the layer's Young's modulus and thermal conductivity, which at >230GPa and >1.1 W/(mK) are indicative of a diamondlike form of amorphous carbon with high 𝑠⁢𝑝3 bonding. However, extreme ultraviolet coherent diffractive imaging reflectometry and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy measurements indicate a low and likely inhomogeneous density in the range of 1–2g/cm3. The low density of such a stiff and conductive layer could indicate that it contains nanometer-scale voids or atomic-scale vacancies. The appearance of this unusual layer illustrates the nanofabrication challenges for diamond and highlights the need for better techniques to characterize surfaces and interfaces in nanoscale devices.$

Elucidating the role of Cr migration in Ni-Cr expo

Low-Light Phase Retrieval With Implicit Generative $Low-Light Phase Retrieval With Implicit Generative Priors R. Manekar, E. Negrini, M. Pham, D. Jacobs, J. Srivastava, S. J. Osher, J. Miao, IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, 33, 4728-4737, (2024). DOI: 10.1109/tip.2024.3445739 Phase retrieval (PR) is fundamentally important in scientific imaging and is crucial for nanoscale techniques like coherent diffractive imaging (CDI). Low radiation dose imaging is essential for applications involving radiation-sensitive samples. However, most PR methods struggle in low-dose scenarios due to high shot noise. Recent advancements in optical data acquisition setups, such as in-situ CDI, have shown promise for low-dose imaging, but they rely on a time series of measurements, making them unsuitable for single-image applications. Similarly, data-driven phase retrieval techniques are not easily adaptable to data-scarce situations. Zero-shot deep learning methods based on pre-trained and implicit generative priors have been effective in various imaging tasks but have shown limited success in PR. In this work, we propose low-dose deep image prior (LoDIP), which combines in-situ CDI with the power of implicit generative priors to address single-image low-dose phase retrieval. Quantitative evaluations demonstrate LoDIP’s superior performance in this task and its applicability to real experimental scenarios.$

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