The imaging properties of atomic focusers

The proposal that a single heavy atom or a column of atoms extending through a thin single crystal might act as an “atomic focuser” to provide initial magnification in a transmission electron microscopy (TEM) instrument, providing resolutions of 0.05 nm or better, has been tested by simulations of images formed by atoms in an Au[0 0 1] crystal. Clear, undistorted images are shown of arrays of Au atoms, 0.05 nm apart, with a field of view 0.28 nm in diameter, suggesting that specimens of larger area may be imaged with the same resolution with no need for relative motions of the specimen and focuser, by use of a TEM system in which the focused beam from a scanning transmission electron microscope illuminates the specimen.