Atomic-scale information, computed.

Research computing for electron microscopy at UVic

A private research workspace for electron ptychography, holography, 4D-STEM and simulation.

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Gold particles on amorphous carbon, imaged with 20 keV electrons in a scanning electron microscope. Left: exit wave from a ptychographic reconstruction (colour shows phase and amplitude). Right: Fourier transform of its intensity; the resolution reached is 0.67 Å. Cropped from Fig. 1 of Blackburn et al., Nat. Commun. 16, 8977 (2025), CC BY 4.0; colour scales and scale bars are in the original.

+Research objectives

Shaping how electron microscopy sees matter.

4D-STEM

Diffractive imaging reconstruction

Collecting diffraction data from many illumination positions, known as scanning electron diffraction (SED) or 4D-STEM, offers many new capabilities for characterising materials.

Simulated convergent-beam diffraction pattern: a hexagonal array of diffraction disks around a bright central disk.
One 4D-STEM frame: a simulated convergent-beam diffraction pattern recorded at a single probe position (illustrative).

Beam shaping

Phased and shaped electron beams

Microfabricated elements shape the electron beam for better information transfer from phase objects such as biological samples, and for studying magnetic phases and plasmonic behaviour at the ultimate resolution.

Dose and damage

Sample modification in the microscope

High-speed triggering and exposure control on a pixelated direct-electron detector are used to understand and reduce beam-induced damage.

Instruments

Both microscopes are in the Advanced Microscopy Facility at the University of Victoria.

S/TEM

Hitachi HF3300V

  • Voltage60 to 300 kV
  • OpticsAberration-corrected probe and imaging optics, sub-Ångström resolution in scanning and transmission modes
  • HolographyIllumination-side biprism and three image-side biprisms
  • SpectroscopyEnergy-filtered imaging, EELS and EDS
  • DetectorMerlin (Medipix3) high-speed pixelated direct-electron detector

SEM/STEM

Hitachi SU9000

  • ModeScanning electron and scanning transmission microscopy
  • DetectorPixelated direct-electron detector from Dectris
  • FacilityAdvanced Microscopy Facility, with CAMTEC

HF3300V in 3D

Interactive model, about 1 MB, needs WebGL
A cut-away model of the Hitachi HF3300V with its CEOS S-CCOR and B-COR correctors, running an off-axis electron holography bench: hologram, FFT, reconstructed phase and amplitude. Drag to orbit, scroll to zoom, click any part of the column to fly into it. Open full screen

+Research computing

From the detector to the result.

Group members analyse their data in a private, browser-based workspace with GPU computing. Analyses can be carried out with the help of coding agents, and each run is recorded so that a result can be traced back to its data.

  1. Acquire

    Datasets from the group’s electron microscopes.

  2. Analyse

    Simulation and reconstruction in a private workspace, with or without an agent.

  3. Record

    Every run is logged, so results stay traceable and reproducible.

+Group

People

Principal investigator

Dr. Arthur M. Blackburn

  • Hitachi High-Tech Canada Research Chair
  • Co-Director, Advanced Microscopy Facility
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy

PhD in Physics, University of Cambridge. Before joining the University of Victoria in 2015 he was a Senior Research Scientist at the Hitachi Cambridge Laboratory, based at the Cavendish Laboratory.

ablackbu@uvic.ca

Members

  • Hussien Ballouk HernandezPhD Student, Condensed Matter
  • Samuel AyanlekeMSc Student, Condensed Matter Physics

Former members

  • Cristina CordobaPostdoctoral Fellow
  • Matthew FitzpatrickPostdoctoral Fellow
  • Adriaan FrenckenPhD, co-supervised
  • Michael WatsonPhD, co-supervised
  • Saba YasaeiMSc
  • Zekun FangMSc
  • Reece BoulangerUndergraduate
  • Ryland MacMahonUndergraduate
  • Noah GorgichukUndergraduate
  • Daniel HedjiUndergraduate
  • Aniruddh SawantUndergraduate

Collaborators

  • Alexandre BroloUVic Chemistry
  • Frank van VeggelUVic Chemistry
  • Tobias JungingerUVic Physics and Astronomy
  • Hitachi High-Tech CanadaIndustry partner

Work on the platform.

Accounts are available to members and collaborators of the group. Members sign in with their ElectroSim username; new users request an account.

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