Scientific Achievement
Monochromated electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) in a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) can distinguish between hydrogen and deuterium vibrational modes and shows that encapsulating a small volume of water between boron nitride (BN) monolayers slows down these hydrogen modes.
Significance and Impact
Results represent a milestone for liquids, fluid interfaces, and isotope-labeled materials characterization with nm-level spatial resolution that combines nanoscale imaging and vibrational spectroscopy with isotopic sensitivity.
Research Details
– Vibrational EEL spectra were acquired using a Nion Hermes monochromated and aberration-corrected (MAC)-STEM operated at 60kV in an “aloof” geometry.
J. R. Jokisaari, J. A. Hachtel, X. Hu, A. Mukherjee, C. Wang, A. Konecna, T. C. Lovejoy, N. Dellby, J. Aizpurua, O. L. Krivanek, J. C. Idrobo, and R. F. Klie, "Vibrational spectroscopy of water with high spatial resolution," Advanced Materials (2018). DOI: 10.1002/adma.201802702
