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 . . .

More Highlights

STROBE_STC

Tweets by @STROBE_STC

To see STROBE’s Twitter/X feed, please log into Twitter/X.

STROBE IN THE NEWS

‘Doughnut’ beams help physicists see incredibly small objects

December 4, 2023|CU Boulder Today|

In a new study, researchers at CU Boulder have used doughnut-shaped beams of light to take . . .

High-Fidelity Ptychography of Highly Periodic Structures

December 1, 2023|Optica: Optics & Photonics News|

Lensless imaging based on ptychographic coherent diffractive imaging enables diffraction-limited microscopy at short wavelengths, overcoming . . .

STROBE AWARDS

Congrats to Jessica Ramella-Roman for Being Elected as a 2024 Optica Fellow

October 30, 2023|Optica|

Jessica Ramella-Roman has been elected as a Fellow of Optica for her pioneering contributions to . . .

Congrats to Jeremy Thurston for Receiving the Emil Wolf Outstanding Student Paper Award at Frontiers in Optics

October 24, 2023|Optica|

Every year, the Frontiers in Optics conference holds the Emil Wolf Outstanding Student Paper Competition, . . .

More News

More Awards

STROBE IN THE NEWS

‘Doughnut’ beams help physicists see incredibly small objects

December 4, 2023|CU Boulder Today|

In a new study, researchers at CU Boulder have used doughnut-shaped beams of light to take . . .

High-Fidelity Ptychography of Highly Periodic Structures

December 1, 2023|Optica: Optics & Photonics News|

Lensless imaging based on ptychographic coherent diffractive imaging enables diffraction-limited microscopy at short wavelengths, overcoming . . .

More News

STROBE AWARDS

Congrats to Jessica Ramella-Roman for Being Elected as a 2024 Optica Fellow

October 30, 2023|Optica|

Jessica Ramella-Roman has been elected as a Fellow of Optica for her pioneering contributions to . . .

Congrats to Jeremy Thurston for Receiving the Emil Wolf Outstanding Student Paper Award at Frontiers in Optics

October 24, 2023|Optica|

Every year, the Frontiers in Optics conference holds the Emil Wolf Outstanding Student Paper Competition, . . .

More Awards

Relativistic ultrafast electron diffraction at hig $Relativistic ultrafast electron diffraction at high repetition rates K. M. Siddiqui, D. B. Durham, F. F. Cropp, F. F. Ji, S. S. Paiagua, C. C. Ophus, N. C. Andresen, L. L. Jin, J. J. Wu, S. S. Wang, X. . Zhang, W. W. You, M. M. Murnane, M. M. Centurion, X. X. Wang, D. S. Slaughter, R. A. Kaindl, P. P. Musumeci, A. M. Minor, D. D. Filippetto, Structural Dynamics, 10, 064302, (2023). DOI: 10.1063/4.0000203 The ability to resolve the dynamics of matter on its native temporal and spatial scales constitutes a key challenge and convergent theme across chemistry, biology, and materials science. The last couple of decades have witnessed ultrafast electron diffraction (UED) emerge as one of the forefront techniques with the sensitivity to resolve atomic motions. Increasingly sophisticated UED instruments are being developed that are aimed at increasing the beam brightness in order to observe structural signatures, but so far they have been limited to low average current beams. Here, we present the technical design and capabilities of the HiRES (High Repetition-rate Electron Scattering) instrument, which blends relativistic electrons and high repetition rates to achieve orders of magnitude improvement in average beam current compared to the existing state-of-the-art instruments. The setup utilizes a novel electron source to deliver femtosecond duration electron pulses at up to MHz repetition rates for UED experiments. Instrument response function of sub-500 fs is demonstrated with < 100 fs time resolution targeted in future. We provide example cases of diffraction measurements on solid-state and gas-phase samples, including both micro- and nanodiffraction (featuring 100 nm beam size) modes, which showcase the potential of the instrument for novel UED experiments.$

Coherent EUV Light Sources Based on High-Order Har

Solving complex nanostructures with ptychographic $Solving complex nanostructures with ptychographic atomic electron tomography P. M. Pelz, S. M. Griffin, S. Stonemeyer, D. Popple, H. DeVyldere, P. Ercius, A. Zettl, M. C. Scott, C. Ophus, Nature Communications, 14, 7906, (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43634-z Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is essential for determining atomic scale structures in structural biology and materials science. In structural biology, three-dimensional structures of proteins are routinely determined from thousands of identical particles using phase-contrast TEM. In materials science, three-dimensional atomic structures of complex nanomaterials have been determined using atomic electron tomography (AET). However, neither of these methods can determine the three-dimensional atomic structure of heterogeneous nanomaterials containing light elements. Here, we perform ptychographic electron tomography from 34.5 million diffraction patterns to reconstruct an atomic resolution tilt series of a double wall-carbon nanotube (DW-CNT) encapsulating a complex ZrTe sandwich structure. Class averaging the resulting tilt series images and subpixel localization of the atomic peaks reveals a Zr11Te50 structure containing a previously unobserved ZrTe2 phase in the core. The experimental realization of atomic resolution ptychographic electron tomography will allow for the structural determination of a wide range of beam-sensitive nanomaterials containing light elements.$

Hierarchical organization and assembly of the arch

Locations and in situ structure of the polymerase

High-fidelity ptychographic imaging of highly peri $High-fidelity ptychographic imaging of highly periodic structures enabled by vortex high harmonic beams B. Wang, N. J. Brooks, P. Johnsen, N. W. Jenkins, Y. Esashi, I. Binnie, M. Tanksalvala, H. C. Kapteyn, M. M. Murnane, Optica, 10, 1245, (2023). DOI: 10.1364/optica.498619 Ptychographic coherent diffractive imaging enables diffraction-limited imaging of nanoscale structures at extreme ultraviolet and x-ray wavelengths, where high-quality image-forming optics are not available. However, its reliance on a set of diverse diffraction patterns makes it challenging to use ptychography to image highly periodic samples, limiting its application to defect inspection for electronic and photonic devices. Here, we use a vortex high harmonic light beam driven by a laser carrying orbital angular momentum to implement extreme ultraviolet ptychographic imaging of highly periodic samples with high fidelity and reliability. We also demonstrate, for the first time to our knowledge, ptychographic imaging of an isolated, near-diffraction-limited defect in an otherwise periodic sample using vortex high harmonic beams. This enhanced metrology technique can enable high-fidelity imaging and inspection of highly periodic structures for next-generation nano, energy, photonic, and quantum devices.$

Structural consequences of sequence variation in m $Structural consequences of sequence variation in mammalian prion β2α2 loop segments C. Glynn, E. Hernandez, M. Gallagher-Jones, J. Miao, C. J. Sigurdson, J. A. Rodriguez, Frontiers in Neuroscience, 16, (2022). DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.960322 Sequence variation in the β2α2 loop, residues 165-175 of the mammalian prion protein (PrP), influences its structure. To better understand the consequences of sequence variation in this region of the protein, we biochemically and biophysically interrogate natural and artificial sequence variants of the β2α2 loop of mammalian PrP. Using microcrystal electron diffraction (MicroED), we determine atomic resolution structures of segments encompassing residues 168-176 from the β2α2 loop of PrP with sequences corresponding to human, mouse/cow, bank vole/hamster, rabbit/pig/guinea pig, and naked mole rat (elk-T174S) β2α2 loops, as well as synthetic β2α2 loop sequences. This collection of structures presents two dominant amyloid packing polymorphisms. In the first polymorph, denoted “clasped”, side chains within a sheet form polar clasps by facing each other on the same strand, exemplified by the mouse/cow, human, and bank vole/hamster sequences. Because its stability is derived from within a strand and through polar ladders within a sheet, the sequence requirements for the mating strand are less restrictive. A second polymorph, denoted “interdigitated,” has sidechains interdigitate across mating sheets, exemplified by the elk, naked mole rat (elk T174S), and rabbit sequences. The two types of packing present distinct networks of stabilizing hydrogen bonds. The identity of residue 174 appears to strongly influence the packing adopted in these peptides, but consideration of the overall sequence of a given segment is needed to understand the stability of its assemblies. Incorporation of these β2α2 loop sequences into an 85 residue recombinant segment encoding wild-type bank vole PrP94–178 demonstrates that even single residue substitutions could impact fibril morphology as evaluated by negative stain electron microscopy. This is in line with recent findings supporting the accessibility of different structural geometries by varied...$

Fragment-Based Ab Initio Phasing of Peptidic Nanoc $Fragment-Based Ab Initio Phasing of Peptidic Nanocrystals by MicroED L. S. Richards, M. D. Flores, C. Millán, C. Glynn, C. Zee, M. R. Sawaya, M. Gallagher-Jones, R. J. Borges, I. Usón, J. A. Rodriguez, ACS Bio & Med Chem Au, 3, 201-210, (2023). DOI: 10.1021/acsbiomedchemau.2c00082 Electron diffraction (MicroED/3DED) can render the three-dimensional atomic structures of molecules from previously unamenable samples. The approach has been particularly transformative for peptidic structures, where MicroED has revealed novel structures of naturally occurring peptides, synthetic protein fragments, and peptide-based natural products. Despite its transformative potential, MicroED is beholden to the crystallographic phase problem, which challenges its de novo determination of structures. ARCIMBOLDO, an automated, fragment-based approach to structure determination, eliminates the need for atomic resolution, instead enforcing stereochemical constraints through libraries of small model fragments, and discerning congruent motifs in solution space to ensure validation. This approach expands the reach of MicroED to presently inaccessible peptide structures including fragments of human amyloids, and yeast and mammalian prions. For electron diffraction, fragment-based phasing portends a more general phasing solution with limited model bias for a wider set of chemical structures.$

A composite electrodynamic mechanism to reconcile

Detecting, Distinguishing, and Spatiotemporally Tr

Identification of Unknown Nanofabrication Chemical

Operando spectral imaging of the lithium ion batte

Follow on Instagram

Building the Microscopes of Tomorrow

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

a.fb-icon-element.fontawesome-icon.fb-icon-element-1{ color: #192752;}a.fb-icon-element.fontawesome-icon.fb-icon-element-1:hover { color: #192752;}STROBE_STC

STROBE IN THE NEWS

STROBE AWARDS

STROBE IN THE NEWS

STROBE AWARDS

STROBE_STC