Continuous illumination picosecond imaging using a delay line detector in a transmission electron microscope

• Published in: Ultramicroscopy 2022-03, Vol.233, p.113392-113392, Article 113392
• Main Authors: Weßels, Teresa, Däster, Simon, Murooka, Yoshie, Zingsem, Benjamin, Migunov, Vadim, Kruth, Maximilian, Finizio, Simone, Lu, Peng-Han, Kovács, András, Oelsner, Andreas, Müller-Caspary, Knut, Acremann, Yves, Dunin-Borkowski, Rafal E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ferromagnetism; Imaging techniques; Lorentz microscopy; Time-resolved transmission electron microscopy
• ISSN: 0304-3991; 1879-2723
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ultramic.2021.113392

Progress towards analysing transitions between steady states demands improvements in time-resolved imaging, both for fundamental research and for applications in information technology. Transmission electron microscopy is a powerful technique for investigating the atomic structure, chemical composition and electromagnetic properties of materials with high spatial resolution and precision. However, the extraction of information about dynamic processes in the ps time regime is often not possible without extensive modification to the instrument while requiring careful control of the operation conditions to not compromise the beam quality. Here, we avoid these drawbacks by combining a delay line detector with continuous illumination in a transmission electron microscope. We visualize the gyration of a magnetic vortex core in real space and show that magnetization dynamics up to frequencies of 2.3 GHz can be resolved with down to ∼122ps temporal resolution by studying the interaction of an electron beam with a microwave magnetic field. In the future, this approach promises to provide access to resonant dynamics by combining high spatial resolution with sub-ns temporal resolution. •Time-resolved imaging of dynamic processes.•We equipped a transmission electron microscope with a time-resolving delay line detector.•Imaging of vortex core resonances in a permalloy disk.•Reaching temporal resolution down to 122 ps.•This setup allows for excitations of samples with a microwave field up to 2.3 GHz.