Affiliation: | 1. Electron Microscopy for Materials Science (EMAT), University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, Antwerp, 2020 Belgium NANOlab Center of Excellence, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, 2020 Belgium;2. Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI), Science Park 123, Amsterdam, XG 1098 The Netherlands;3. CIC biomaGUNE and Ciber-BBN, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Paseo de Miramón 182, Donostia-San Sebastian, 20014 Spain;4. CIC biomaGUNE and Ciber-BBN, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Paseo de Miramón 182, Donostia-San Sebastian, 20014 Spain Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, 48011 Spain;5. Electron Microscopy for Materials Science (EMAT), University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, Antwerp, 2020 Belgium |
Abstract: | A detailed 3D investigation of nanoparticles at a local scale is of great importance to connect their structure and composition to their properties. Electron tomography has therefore become an important tool for the 3D characterization of nanomaterials. 3D investigations typically comprise multiple steps, including acquisition, reconstruction, and analysis/quantification. Usually, the latter two steps are performed offline, at a dedicated workstation. This sequential workflow prevents on-the-fly control of experimental parameters to improve the quality of the 3D reconstruction, to select a relevant nanoparticle for further characterization, or to steer an in situ tomography experiment. Here, an efficient approach to overcome these limitations is presented, based on the real-time reconstruction of arbitrary 2D reconstructed slices through a 3D object. Implementation of this method may lead to generalized implementation of electron tomography for routine nanoparticle characterization in 3D. |