Tracking low temperature phase transitions in functional oxides at atomic resolution with cryogenic scanning transmission electron microscopy
- Datum: 13.04.2026
- Uhrzeit: 11:00
- Vortragende(r): Dr. Noah Schnitzer
- MSCA Fellow at Imperial College London
- Ort: MPI CPfS
- Raum: Seminar rooms 1-2
- Gastgeber: Dr. Berit Goodge
Performing high-resolution real-space characterization at cryogenic temperatures is becoming increasingly important for the study of functional oxides and other quantum materials, where competing low-temperature phases and subtle structural distortions require atomically resolved probes to understand, and ultimately control, exotic low-temperature behaviour of both technological and fundamental physical interest.
Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) offers unparalleled insight into material structure down to atomic resolution [1], while electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) provides complementary information on composition, valence, and bonding. Under cryogenic conditions, however, reduced mechanical stability presents significant challenges for atomic-resolution STEM imaging and analysis. Advances in technique have made sub-Å resolution imaging at liquid nitrogen temperatures (~100 K) possible, opening access to a range of exotic phases and phenomena absent at ambient temperature [2]. In this presentation, I will show how extended cryo-STEM capabilities now allow atomic-resolution imaging across continuously variable temperatures, enabling the tracking of charge density wave and metal-insulator transitions and thermally activated low-temperature dynamics in quantum materials [3, 4]. In addition, I will demonstrate emerging liquid-helium-temperature STEM imaging capabilities, which have recently achieved atomic-resolution STEM imaging and ptychography down to ~20 K in a multiferroic oxide system [5].
[1] Schnitzer et al. PRM 9, 093802 (2025).
[2] Goodge et al. Microsc. Microan. 26(3), 439–446 (2020).
[3] Schnitzer et al. PRX 15, 011007 (2025).
[4] Schnitzer et al. Microsc. Microan., 30:S1, 1510–1511 (2024).
[5] Schnitzer, Palos, et al. arXiv:2603.10892 (2026).