Picometre-scale real-time drift correction in TEM and STEM by dynamic control of the specimen stage for atomic-resolution imaging
Abstract
In this work, we show how the specimen drift can be actively compensated by controlling the stage with precision down to the picometre scale. We do this by dynamic control, a generic real-time feedback framework designed to actively stabilize electron microscopy experiments by continuously monitoring an experimental variable from the detector data stream and compensating its evolution during acquisition. The framework, applicable to a broad range of controllable experimental instabilities, includes automated calibration procedures, operates in parallel with image acquisition and is implemented as a software plugin without requiring any hardware modification of the microscope. Results for live drift correction are shown for a selection of TEM and STEM instruments using conventional mechanical stages as well as piezoelectric stages. Experimental results are presented for medium resolution TEM, high-resolution TEM, HR-STEM and in situ observations. With piezoelectric stages, specimen stabilization down to the picometre scale was achieved allowing drift-corrected atomic-resolution imaging. Specimen stage-based stabilization significantly improves long-exposure imaging and in situ experiments by increasing the effective exposure time, preserving the field of view, maintaining identical optical conditions and eliminating the need for numerical alignment of large datasets. Beyond the specific application presented here, dynamic control provides a versatile framework for real-time regulation of electron microscopy experiments and opens new perspectives for quantitative imaging, automated in situ studies and multimodal acquisitions.
Versions
Related
- Broadband radio-frequency TEM specimen holders for in situ biasing excitation and 100-ps-scale electron beam control
- High-resolution retinal matrix imaging via computational motion and aberration correction
- Dynamic calibration method for the system constant of high-spectral-resolution lidar with airborne experimental verification
- From picometre displacements to a three-dimensional lattice gas of polar skyrmions
- A dry cryogenic platform with picometre stability for nanoscale and quantum technologies
BibTeX
@article{gatel2026picometrescale,
title = {{Picometre-scale real-time drift correction in TEM and STEM by dynamic control of the specimen stage for atomic-resolution imaging}},
author = {Christophe Gatel and Julien Dupuy and Teresa Hungria and Martin Hÿtch},
journal = {Ultramicroscopy},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.ultramic.2026.114450},
eprint = {2608.03344},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05800498v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Picometre-scale real-time drift correction in TEM and STEM by dynamic control of the specimen stage for atomic-resolution imaging
AU - Christophe Gatel
AU - Julien Dupuy
AU - Teresa Hungria
AU - Martin Hÿtch
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/14
JO - Ultramicroscopy
DO - 10.1016/j.ultramic.2026.114450
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05800498v1
AB - In this work, we show how the specimen drift can be actively compensated by controlling the stage with precision down to the picometre scale. We do this by dynamic control, a generic real-time feedback framework designed to actively stabilize electron microscopy experiments by continuously monitoring an experimental variable from the detector data stream and compensating its evolution during acquisition. The framework, applicable to a broad range of controllable experimental instabilities, includes automated calibration procedures, operates in parallel with image acquisition and is implemented as a software plugin without requiring any hardware modification of the microscope. Results for live drift correction are shown for a selection of TEM and STEM instruments using conventional mechanical stages as well as piezoelectric stages. Experimental results are presented for medium resolution TEM, high-resolution TEM, HR-STEM and in situ observations. With piezoelectric stages, specimen stabilization down to the picometre scale was achieved allowing drift-corrected atomic-resolution imaging. Specimen stage-based stabilization significantly improves long-exposure imaging and in situ experiments by increasing the effective exposure time, preserving the field of view, maintaining identical optical conditions and eliminating the need for numerical alignment of large datasets. Beyond the specific application presented here, dynamic control provides a versatile framework for real-time regulation of electron microscopy experiments and opens new perspectives for quantitative imaging, automated in situ studies and multimodal acquisitions.
SN - 0304-3991
ER -