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Peer-reviewedCC BYNature Communications

Crossed laser phase plates for transmission electron microscopy

  • Petar N. Petrov1,2,3
  • Jessie T. Zhang1,3
  • Jeremy J. Axelrod4,1
  • Pavel K. Olshin5
  • Holger Müller6,7
7 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
  2. 2Institute of Science and Technology Austria, Klosterneuburg, Austria
  3. 3Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, One Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA, USA
  4. 4Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
  5. 5Biohub, Redwood City, CA, USA
  6. 6Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA. [email protected]
  7. 7Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, One Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA, USA. [email protected]
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Abstract

A phase plate has long been sought in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to maximize the image contrast of weakly-scattering objects like biomolecules. The laser phase plate (LPP) has recently demonstrated that an amplified, focused laser standing wave reliably phase shifts the electron beam, achieving phase-contrast TEM. Building on the single-beam LPP, here we introduce the crossed laser phase plate (XLPP): two laser standing waves which intersect in the diffraction plane. We present a theoretical model for the XLPP inside the microscope and show that, relative to the original LPP, it increases information transfer at low spatial frequencies while suppressing ghost images formed by Kapitza-Dirac diffraction. We also present a simple acquisition scheme, enabled by the XLPP, which further suppresses ghosts. Finally, we discuss practical considerations of XLPP design and show experimental results from a prototype. The results of this study chart the course for future developments of LPP hardware.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{petrov2026crossed,
  title = {{Crossed laser phase plates for transmission electron microscopy}},
  author = {Petar N. Petrov and Jessie T. Zhang and Jeremy J. Axelrod and Pavel K. Olshin and Holger Müller},
  journal = {Nature Communications},
  year = {2026},
  month = jun,
  doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-74060-6},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-74060-6},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Crossed laser phase plates for transmission electron microscopy
AU  - Petar N. Petrov
AU  - Jessie T. Zhang
AU  - Jeremy J. Axelrod
AU  - Pavel K. Olshin
AU  - Holger Müller
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/05
JO  - Nature Communications
DO  - 10.1038/s41467-026-74060-6
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-74060-6
AB  - A phase plate has long been sought in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to maximize the image contrast of weakly-scattering objects like biomolecules. The laser phase plate (LPP) has recently demonstrated that an amplified, focused laser standing wave reliably phase shifts the electron beam, achieving phase-contrast TEM. Building on the single-beam LPP, here we introduce the crossed laser phase plate (XLPP): two laser standing waves which intersect in the diffraction plane. We present a theoretical model for the XLPP inside the microscope and show that, relative to the original LPP, it increases information transfer at low spatial frequencies while suppressing ghost images formed by Kapitza-Dirac diffraction. We also present a simple acquisition scheme, enabled by the XLPP, which further suppresses ghosts. Finally, we discuss practical considerations of XLPP design and show experimental results from a prototype. The results of this study chart the course for future developments of LPP hardware.
SN  - 2041-1723
ER  -