Precision and accuracy of quantitative scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) methods such as ptychography, and the mapping of electric, magnetic, and strain fields depend on the dose. Reasonable acquisition time requires high beam current and the ability to quantitatively detect both large and minute changes in signal. A new hybrid pixel array detector (PAD), the second-generation Electron Microscope Pixel Array Detector (EMPAD-G2), addresses this challenge by advancing the technology of a previous generation PAD, the EMPAD. The EMPAD-G2 images continuously at a frame-rates up to 10 kHz with a dynamic range that spans from low-noise detection of single electrons to electron beam currents exceeding 180 pA per pixel, even at electron energies of 300 keV. The EMPAD-G2 enables rapid collection of high-quality STEM data that simultaneously contain full diffraction information from unsaturated bright-field disks to usable Kikuchi bands and higher-order Laue zones. Test results from 80 to 300 keV are presented, as are first experimental results demonstrating ptychographic reconstructions, strain and polarization maps. We introduce a new information metric, the maximum usable imaging speed (MUIS), to identify when a detector becomes electron-starved, saturated or its pixel count is mismatched with the beam current.

We describe a hybrid pixel array detector (electron microscope pixel array detector, or EMPAD) adapted for use in electron microscope applications, especially as a universal detector for scanning transmission electron microscopy. The 128×128 pixel detector consists of a 500 µm thick silicon diode array bump-bonded pixel-by-pixel to an application-specific integrated circuit. The in-pixel circuitry provides a 1,000,000:1 dynamic range within a single frame, allowing the direct electron beam to be imaged while still maintaining single electron sensitivity. A 1.1 kHz framing rate enables rapid data collection and minimizes sample drift distortions while scanning. By capturing the entire unsaturated diffraction pattern in scanning mode, one can simultaneously capture bright field, dark field, and phase contrast information, as well as being able to analyze the full scattering distribution, allowing true center of mass imaging. The scattering is recorded on an absolute scale, so that information such as local sample thickness can be directly determined. This paper describes the detector architecture, data acquisition system, and preliminary results from experiments with 80–200 keV electron beams.

Infections caused by protozoan parasites are among the most widespread and intractable transmissible diseases affecting the developing world, with malaria and leishmaniasis being the most costly in terms of morbidity and mortality. Although new drugs are urgently required against both diseases in the face of ever-rising resistance to frontline therapies, very few candidates passing through development pipelines possess a known and novel mode of action. Set in the context of drugs currently in use and under development, we present the evidence for N-myristoyltransferase (NMT), an enzyme that N-terminally lipidates a wide range of specific target proteins through post-translational modification, as a potential drug target in malaria and the leishmaniases. We discuss the limitations of current knowledge regarding the downstream targets of this enzyme in protozoa, and our recent progress towards potent cell-active NMT inhibitors against the most clinically-relevant species of parasite. Finally, we outline the next steps required in terms of both tools to understand N-myristoylation in protozoan parasites, and the generation of potential development candidates based on the output of our recently-reported high-throughput screens.

Homoepitaxial SrTiO3 thin films were grown on SrTiO3 (001) using Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD). The deposition process was monitored in-situ, via both x-ray reflectivity and surface diffuse x-ray scattering measurements in the G3 experimental station at the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS). Using a CCD detector in 1D, or streak-camera, mode with approximately 0.3-second time resolution, data were collected during growths performed at two substrate temperatures: 695°C and 1000°C. While the specular reflectivity oscillations for the two growths are very similar, the diffuse scattering clearly shows a distinct change in the peak position. Using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), we illustrate how the peak position for the diffuse lobes of scattered intensity is directly related to the distribution of single unit cell high islands on the growing surface. Thus, the peak shift of the diffuse scattering indicates an order of magnitude change in the island density.

The advent of intense synchrotron radiation sources for X-ray diffraction has made many otherwise difficult experiments feasible. The increased intensity will not he fully utilized, however, unless there are farther developments in detector technology. Improvement in detector characteristics will, of course, aid those using laboratory sources as well. For instance, construction of low noise, high, quantum efficiency detectors will reduce integration times and enable one to detect weak signals.