ESTEEM3 – European Network for Electron Microscopy
More info ESTEEM3 – Enabling Science and Technology through European Electron Microscopy – is an EU funded project for electron microscopy, which aims at providing access to the leading European state-of-the-art electron microscopy research infrastructures, facilitating and extending transnational access services of the most powerful atomic scale characterization techniques in advanced electron microscopy research to a wide range of academic and industrial research communities for the analysis and engineering of novel materials in physical, chemical and biological sciences. ESTEEM3 objective is to deliver access to users coming from a wider range of disciplines. Transnational Access (TA) to ESTEEM3 centers is obtained through a transparent, simple peer review process based on merit and scientific priorities. Optimum service to users is supported by Networking Activities (NA) and Joint Research Activities (JRA), which address key issues such as specimen preparation, data interpretation, treatment and automation through theory and simulation, and standardization of protocols and methodologies. Innovative activities dedicated to the dissemination of expertise, education and training in cutting-edge quantitative transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques, such as schools, advanced workshops and webinars, are offered to the European electron microscopy users from academia, research institutes and industry. Directed research programs involving the academic and industrial partners of the consortium focus on the further methodology development in imaging and diffraction, spectroscopy, in-situ techniques and metrology, and on advancing applied research of materials related to ICT, energy, health, and transport for the benefit of European scientists and industry. Moreover, the definition of strategic roadmaps and open access data policies aims to ensure the long-term sustainability of the consortium. In all, ESTEEM3 establishes a strategic leadership in electron microscopy to guide future developments and promote electron microscopy to the widest research community at large.
Dr. Aldo Armigliato (°1940 – † 10.11.2018)
Aldo Armigliato, one of the leading Italian electron microscopists, died on 10th November 2018. Aldo was born in Naples in 1940. In 1951, he moved to Padua with his family, where he continued his studies. In 1965, he took his degree in physics at the University of Padua with a thesis in nuclear physics. After graduating, he was involved in nuclear spectroscopy research, both at the University and at the Van der Graaf accelerator in Legnaro (Padua). In 1967, he was hired by the Vetrocoke in Portomarghera (Venice) a firm of the Montedison Group where he was head of structural characterization of vitreous materials and, later on, of polymeric fibres. In 1969, he was employed by the “Laboratorio di Chimica e Tecnologia dei Materiali e dei Componenti per l’Elettronica”, LAMEL Institute of the National Research Council (CNR) in Bologna. At the LAMEL Institute (recently the IMM Institute) he spent all the rest of his working life with enthusiasm and curiosity, and with the ability to pass on to students and collaborators his love for scientific research. He started his work at the LAMEL Institute by setting up, with other colleagues, one of the first electron microscopy laboratories in Italy, built around a recently bought transmission electron microscope (TEM), a Siemens Elmiskop 101. In the following years, this Laboratory was to become the main centre in Italy for the application of electron microscopy techniques in microelectronics, promoting the dissemination of these techniques and responsible for training many students and researchers in the latest developments in TEM and TEM sample preparation. Aldo was here a key player, always eager to test the latest electron microscopy innovation and capable of achieving significant and original developments of these techniques and methods. It is also thanks to his pioneering work over the last 40 years, that, in Italy, Weak Beam Dark Field (WBDF), High Resolution Electron Microscopy (HREM), Convergent Beam Electron Diffraction (CBED), Monte Carlo methods for X-ray Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), Nanodiffraction and new Focused Ion Beam (FIB)-based methods for the preparation of TEM standards for X-ray microanalysis were introduced and found applications in the characterization of materials. Underpinning this long lasting activity were collaborations with colleagues working in Research Institutions and Companies all over Europe that led Aldo to coordinate at first a European Twinning Project in 1986-1988 and later on, an RTD European Project (STREAM) in 2000-2002. He was also an active member of the boards of the Società Italiana di Microscopia Elettronica (SIME) and of the European Microscopy Society (EMS). In 1995, he became President of the European Microbeam Analysis Society (EMAS) and maintained this charge until 2001 afterwards being nominated honorary member of the Society. Among the main results of his research activity, there are some fundamental contributions to the study of the impurities behaviour in diffused and implanted Si, the setting up of new methods for the strain determination in silicon microstructures and the proposal of original methods for the quantitative analysis of the sample composition by EDS X-ray microanalysis. He contributed to the edition of several electron microscopy related books and in particular he was co-editor with Prof. U. Valdrè of an important book for the Italian electron microscopist community entitled: “Microscopia elettronica a scansione e microanalisi”. Aldo was a keen scientist and a brilliant microscopist. For his kindness, his open minded attitude and his intelligent humour, to most of those who knew him he was also a friend. In the last twenty years of his life he had to fight a severe illness. He made this in an exemplary way, with a great and tenacious love for life. He leaves a widow, Paola, a son, Alberto and two grandchildren, Silvia and Giacomo. Andrea Parisini, Roberto Balboni, Stefano Frabboni, Vittorio Morandi, Marco Vittori Antisari
Dr. V. C. Barber († August 2017 )
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FP7 – MINERVA: MId- to NEaR infrared spectroscopy for improVed medical diAgnostics
The MINERVA project is funded under the European Commission’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7-ICT) and runs from November 2012 until October 2016. Project cost 10.6 M€ Project funding 7.3 M€ The MINERVA project brings together thirteen partners from across Europe with the common objective of developing mid-infrared (mid-IR) technology to improve the early diagnosis of cancer. In recent years it has become clear that a technology known as mid-IR imaging spectroscopy has the potential to open a new chapter in bio-medical imaging. There is good evidence that it could be an effective tool for early cancer diagnosis and improved survival rates. The mid-IR covers the bio-molecule “fingerprint region” and can be used to identify tiny quantities of chemicals associated with important diseases. Early work based on a direct search for “cancer marker” absorption peaks has proved of limited value. However, great progress has been made in recent years by analysing the entire bio-molecular mid-IR spectral signature using automated algorithms. Mathematical techniques, especially multi-variate analysis, map the distribution of different related molecular species. Computer programs then search for and identify known patterns that have been shown to be linked with cancer, allowing improved early diagnosis. To date, the lack of suitable sources, detectors and components in the mid-IR has restricted the technology to one of academic interest, based on weak thermal sources, low power lasers or synchrotron research tools. The MINERVA project will take advantage of several new breakthroughs in photonic technology to develop a new mid-IR technology platform and processes for early detection of cancer.
ChipScope – Overcoming the Limits of Diffraction with Super-Resolution Lighting on a Chip
More info ChipScope will revolutionize optical microscopes with super-resolution capabilities, making them chip-sized, convenient, affordable and ubiquitously available, not only for laboratories working in manifold research fields, but also in everyday life. During the project, very small LEDs of 50 nm (this is 1000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair) will be developed and used as light sources for a new microscope which will be integrated on a chip. The fundamental difference with conventional optical microscopy will be that the illumination is made by extremely small individual light sources instead of a wide illumination field and tiny detectors in the camera. This allows super-resolution (<50nm) optical microscopy, which could be used to investigate extremely small structures as viruses, DNA or living cells, in real time.
Dr. Ir. Jany Thibault-Pénisson (° 1947 – † 27.10.2011)
On Thursday the 27th of October 2011, we were deeply saddened to learn of the passing away of Jany Thibault. She was a renowned and deeply respected figure, recognized nationally and internationally in electron microscopy and in particular in the field of high-resolution imaging and plasticity. Jany Thibault (- Desseaux then – Pénisson) was born in 1947. She spent her youth in Paris and then joined Grenoble, where she graduated as an ingénieur at the Institut National Polytechnique of Grenoble. She began her scientific career at the CEA-Grenoble in 1974, conducting her thesis in the Department of Solid State Physics under the direction of Alain Bourret. She was then associated with the early development of high-resolution electron microscopy and in 1975 published her first results at high accelerating voltages. She then turned to the observation at lower voltages of atomic columns in semiconductor materials and in particular germanium. It is for this material that she recorded the first images of the cores of dislocations at the atomic scale. She revealed the dissociation of dislocations in these materials and defended her PhD in 1977 by presenting these world firsts. She received the Prix Alain Brelot of the French Physical Society in 1979 for her thesis. She was recruited by the CNRS in 1978 and continued to work at the CEA-Grenoble in the Department of Fundamental Research. She then published the first comparison of the experimentally observed atomic scale displacements around an edge dislocation with elasticity theory calculations. In 1980, she showed for the first time that the method of separation of 60° dislocations in germanium and silicon was by glide. As a natural continuation, she then focused on the atomic structure of grain boundaries in these semiconductors, and later in metals, and showed that these structures are often perfectly ordered. She was able to describe the different models consistent with the experimental high-resolution images. In 1983, she won the bronze medal of the CNRS. In 1987, with two of her PhD students, Mohamed El Kajbaji and Jean-Luc Putaux, she began the study of interaction of dislocations with grain boundaries, a subject that would interest her for the rest of her life. She assumed the direction of electron microscopy at the CEA-DRFMC and was appointed Director of Research at the CNRS. Fascinated by the microscope that can “see” atoms, always curious to understand how atoms arrange themselves next to one another, how they come together and organize themselves in defects, she then widens her scope to other materials, such as metals and problems of relaxation in metallic multilayers systems (thesis of P. Bayle-Guillemaud) and oxides. She also participated to the understanding of early growth patterns of single-wall carbon nanotubes (CNT) by analyzing the interface between the catalyst and the CNT. In 1996, she introduced to her laboratory the emerging technique of energy filtering to perform chemical analysis at the sub-nanometre scale. She worked on many projects in nanomaterials, where her knowledge of the structure of defects and interfaces was much appreciated. In 2004, she decided to join the University Paul Cézanne in Marseille to mount a major project for aberration-corrected high-resolution microscopy as part of the CIM-PACA and create the local network of quantitative microscopy MET-PACA. Throughout her career, Jany Thibault was an ambassador of high-resolution microscopy in both the national community and abroad. She was a regular invited speaker in major conferences of electron microscopy and participated during all these years to the training of young microscopists in many national and international schools in microscopy and materials. She also became involved in the drafting of monographs on grain boundaries in semiconductors, and later in other materials. Jany Thibault was a brilliant physicist and microscopist and is already deeply missed by our whole community. She was also a woman of character that anyone who had the privilege of meeting cannot forget. Her knowledge, both scientific and cultural, impressed and was always combined with a real humanity and joie de vivre. She was also an artist, finding in painting and drawing a very personal way to express the world. We express our sincerest sympathy to her husband Jean-Michel Pénisson, co-worker and companion for life. Let him know that the reactions to the announcement of her departure have all reflected a deep sadness. Illness removed her too soon; we keep a fond memory of an exceptional woman. Alain BourretPascale Bayle-Guillemaud
Prof. Dr. Noel Bonnet (°1947 – † 22.10.2011)
Noel Bonnet passed away on Saturday, Oct. 22, following a long and severe battle with illness. He had just turned 64. A physicist by training, Noel Bonnet was instrumental in advancing biological research in the field of image analysis including electron microscopy. Among his numerous contributions in the field of biological imaging, he was one of the first to promote a multivariate statistical approach to image analysis by X-Ray Spectrometer Transmission Electron Microscopy. So Noel was able to show that, by cryo-preparation of tissues, the principal component analysis allows direct visualization of the correlation between diffusible elements in different cellular compartments. He also successfully applied this approach of multivariate statistical analysis to filtered images with a loss of energy. Noel also worked on the development of digital filters for the detection of trace elements in EELS spectrometry to name just a few of his contributions. His work often serves as a bridge between the worlds of microscopy and optical and electronic signal processing. He has been a researcher who was greatly appreciated by many units within INSERM which he belonged to in Reims and where he leaves a strong tradition of multidisciplinary collaboration. Noel Bonnet has actively participated in the life of our scientific society (SFME at the time) since he joined the Council in 1987. It was under his leadership that the “Bulletin of the SFME” was created and whose first issue was published in the Fall of 1987. This newsletter was published every two years and served as a link between members and the Council; it was a source of information and a forum for debate. For example, in 1989 Noel and Dominique Ploton launched the great debate regarding the change of the name of SFME to better reflect the evolution of its activities. This was done later in 1996 with the creation of the SFµ. He continued to be the creator of the newsletter until 1991. Known for his scientific expertise, his talent as a teacher and his willingness to share his knowledge, he has led many schools and thematic workshops related specifically to the interests of the Congress of the Society. A tribute to Noel Bonnet cannot omit his role as a teacher, the transmission of knowledge was for him an essential duty. As a Professor at the IUT of Reims, discretion, kindness and courtesy made him a popular teacher among his students. He has trained a large number of students and inspired many others. 4 years ago, Noel had retired in order to devote himself more fully to his many other passions, such as bridge, Petanque, and long (very long) hikes. The following is a beautiful tribute to Noel written by one of his former students, as he will remain in our memories not only for his simple and just words: “but also for the great human and social values that shone within Noel, and his great sensitivity and attention to the world. With his height and his white hair, his unwavering smile and an almost British humor, it is a humanist of modern times who is leaving us, one of those who has prepared many of us to enter the 21st century.” Daniel ThomasJean Michel
Max Haider, Harald Rose and Knut Urban received the 2011 Wolf Prize in Physics
Max Haider (CEOS GmbH and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology), Harald Rose (Carl Zeiss Senior Professor, Ulm University) and Knut Urban (Research Centre Jülich and RWTH Aachen) have received the 2011 Wolf Prize in Physics for their development of aberration-corrected electron microscopy, allowing the observation of individual atoms with picometer precision, thus revolutionizing materials science. The electron microscope is one of the most widely used research tools in modern science, playing a pivotal role in virtually all areas of natural sciences, as well as in a broad range of technologies, from basic research to vital industries. Since its invention in 1931, the performance of electron microscopy has been limited by the effects of the aberrations of the electron lenses used, which kept its spatial resolving power at values far below the theoretical limit. Given its broad role in advancing modern science and technology, extraordinary efforts were made, worldwide, to overcome these limitations. But, for over half a century, these attempts failed. Working together since 1990, the three Wolf Prize Laureates jointly succeeded in realizing aberration-corrected electron optics for the first time. As a result, they have advanced the resolution of transmission electron microscopy to atomic and sub-atomic dimensions. Their work was inspired by a novel optical concept for the correction of spherical aberration of the objective lens of an electron microscope, developed by Harald Rose (born 1935, Germany). Based on this corrector principle, Maximilian Haider (born 1950, Austria) constructed the first prototypical aberration-corrected transmission electron microscope. Knut Urban (born 1941,Germany) developed this prototype into a working platform for atomic-resolution electron microscopy. He also developed the theoretical and methodological basis for extending and interpreting microscopy in sub-atomic dimensions. For the first time, aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy has permitted localization of atoms with an accuracy of a picometer, corresponding to one hundredth the size of a hydrogen atom. The ability to measure individual atomic positions with picometer precision and to correlate atomic-scale structure with macroscopic physical properties constitutes a major breakthrough in materials science, with implications for many other areas of science and technology. The breakthrough in exploring the microcosm comes at a time when developing nanotechnologies and getting them to work for a number of applications, calls for high-resolution, high-sensitivity instrumentation for research, synthesis and validation of novel techniques. Within less than five years since the commercialization of aberration-corrected electron microscopy, more than 200 of these instruments have been ordered by university and industrial research laboratories all over the world, pointing to the central role that state-of-the-art electron microscopy plays in 21st century research and putting an end to decades of stagnation in this key area of scientific instrumentation and industrial technology.
Prof. David John Hugh Cockayne (°1942 – † 22.12.2010)
Professor David John Hugh Cockayne FRS, Emeritus Professor in the Physical Examination of Materials at the University of Oxford, died on 22nd December 2010. He was one of the leading Electron Microscopists of Materials of his generation. He was born in London in 1942, and his family emigrated to Melbourne when he was eight years old. He had joint British and Australian (naturalized) nationality, and his professional career was divided between the two countries. He was a Fellow of both the UK and Australian Institutes of Physics. After graduating with first class Honours in Physics at the University of Melbourne in 1964, he carried out research towards the MSc with Professors J.M. Cowley, A.F. Moodie and P. Goodman on electron diffraction from crystals. His project was the first test of the Multislice Theory of electron diffraction of Cowley and Moodie by comparing observed intensity distributions in convergent beam patterns from MoS2 with theoretical prediction. The comparison gave good agreement (after correction of an incorrect sign in the original Cowley-Moodie equations). In 1966 David moved to Oxford on a Commonwealth Scholarship to the Department of Metallurgy, to carry out research towards the D.Phil supervised by M.J. Whelan FRS. The object of the project was to probe the strainfield of dislocations close to their cores. The result was the development (with I.L.F. Ray and M.J. Whelan) of the dark field “weak beam” technique which improved by an order of magnitude (to 1.5nm) the resolution at which complex lattice defects could be studied. The technique greatly advanced our understanding of the structure and properties of lattice defects through its application to many materials, and become a routine tool in laboratories all over the world. It is still widely used today. In 1974 Cockayne returned to Sydney University as Director of the Electron Microscope Unit, which he expanded greatly both for services and research. The research was absorbed into the Australian Key Centre for Microscopy and Analysis which he founded and directed at Sydney University. With McKenzie he developed a powerful electron diffraction technique within an electron microscope to study the structure of amorphous materials in volumes orders of magnitude smaller than is possible with x-rays or neutrons, and giving interatomic distances accurate to 0.001nm. Applications included the first proof of the existence of local diamond like structures in thin films of amorphous carbon, and the refinement of the structure of C70. In 2000 David returned to Oxford as Professor in the Physical Examination of Materials. Here he built up an outstanding Electron Microscopy Group. Highlights of his group’s work included the discovery by careful electron microscopy and atomistic modelling an important new mechanism of strain relief by elemental surface segregation in semiconductor alloy quantum dots, and the location of dopant atoms at the interface of the thin amorphous films between crystalline grains in polycrystalline Si3N4. Cockayne’s work was characterised by a profound insight into the complexities of electron diffraction and microscopy, and a deep understanding of quite difficult experimental observations. He was elected to the Royal Society in 1999, and was honoured in 2008 with the Massey Medal jointly awarded by the UK and Australian Institutes of Physics. Cockayne also made outstanding contributions to the promotion, dissemination and teaching of electron microscopy, particularly to the young. During his Sydney period he initiated a highly successful “Microscopes on the Move” programme in which a specially adapted scanning electron microscope could be transported to schools for hands-on operation across the country. With Kirkland he developed in the UK a remote control Cyber SEM Programme with schools which is currently in operation. He provided exemplary leadership nationally and internationally for the Electron Microscope community. He was Foundation President of the Australian Society for Electron Microscopy. He became General Secretary in 1995 and then President of the International Federation of Societies for Electron Microscopy from 2003 to 2007. He has had a wide ranging and lasting impact in Electron Microscopy of Materials. He leaves a widow, Jean, and three children, Sophie, Tamsin and James. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch, FRSDr P.D. NellistProfessor A. I. KirklandDepartment of MaterialsUniversity of Oxford16 Parks RoadOxfordOX1 3PH
ESFRI – European Biomedical Imaging Infrastructure – from Molecule to Patient
More info Preparatory Phase: 2009-2010 (10 M€)Construction Phase: 2010-2014 (370 M€)Operation: 2012 onwards (160 M€ per year)Coordinators: Dr. Jan Ellenberg, EMBL (Advanced Light Microscopy) ; Prof. Gabriel Krestin, EIBIR (Medical Imaging) Euro-BioImaging is a pan-European research infrastructure project which is part of the ESFRI process. The aim of Euro-BioImaging is to provide access to imaging technologies across the full scale of biological and medical applications, from molecule to patient. Euro-BioImaging will address the imaging requirements of both basic and medical imaging communities by creating nodes in many ESFRI member states that will deploy imaging infrastructure in a coordinated and harmonised manner and thus address the fragmentation of such efforts currently present in Europe.