Advanced Computing in Electron Microscopy

Image simulation has become a common tool in HREM (High Resolution Electron Microscopy) in recent years. However, the literature on the subject is scattered among many different journals and conference proceedings that have occurred in the last two or three decades. It is difficult for beginners to get started in this field. The principle method of image simulation has come to be known as simply the multislice method. This book attempts to bring the diverse information on image simulation together into one place and to provide a background on how to use the multislice method to simulate high resolution images in both conventional and scanning transmission electron microscopy. The main goals of image simulation include understanding the microscope and interpreting high resolution information in the recorded micrographs. This book contains sections on the theory of image formation and simulation as well as a more practical introduction on how to use the multislice method on real specimens. Also included with this book is a CD-ROM with working programs to perform image simulation. The source code as well as the executable code for IBM-PC and Apple Macintosh computers is included. Although the programs may not have a very elegant user interface by today's standards (simple command line dialog), the source code should be very portable to a variety of different computers. It has been compiled and run on Mac's, PC's and several different types of UNIX computers.