# US 4,399,360 A · Transmission electron microscope employing sequential pixel acquistion for display

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- Number: US 4,399,360 A
- Document ID: US4399360A
- Status: Granted
- Kind: A
- Application number: 06/364,353
- Filed: 1982-04-02
- Granted: 1983-08-16
- Earliest claimed: 1980-08-08
- Assignees: University Patents, Inc.
- Inventors: Mircea Fotino
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US4399360A

## CPC

- H01J 37/26: Electron or ion microscopes; Electron or ion diffraction tubes
- H01J: ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS (spark-gaps H01T; electric arc lamps H05B31/00; particle accelerators H05H)

## Abstract

A standard Transmission Electron Microscope is modified to include electrostatic deflection plates for deflecting the image of the specimen across an aperture plate. The electrons passing through the aperture plate are detected and converted into image pixels for either instantaneous display or for further conversion into digital form for subsequent storage of the image.

## Claims

### Claim 1

In a transmission electron microscope including means for generating an electron beam of energy sufficient to illuminate but not substantially injure all or a substantial portion of a specimen to produce immediately below said specimen an instantaneous and complete image of said specimen or substantial portion thereof, the improvement comprising:
aperture defining means;
means for deflecting said complete image across said aperture defining means, at any instant said aperture defining a pixel of said image and;
electron detector means for providing, during said instant, an output indicative of the number of electrons passing through said aperture defining means as said complete image is deflected thereacross to thereby produce non-interfering pixel representations.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The invention as defined in claim 1, further including means responsive to the output from said electron detector means for displaying said complete image of said specimen.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The invention as defined in claim 2, further including means for synchronizing said deflection means with said display means.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The invention as defined in claim 1, wherein said microscope includes an objective lens and said deflection means are pairs of x and y deflection means located immediately below said objective lens and above subsequent microscope lenses.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The invention as defined in claim 1, wherein said electron detector means comprises an scintillator/photomultiplier combination which is offset from the main path of said electrons and means for deflecting said electrons to said scintillator/photomultiplier combination.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The invention as defined in claim 1, further including digital means, responsive to the output from said electron detector means to sample said output at predetermined times and to store the results of said sampling as pixels.