Electron microscopy through micrometers thick water layers...

Scanning transmission electron microscopy can be used to image specimens in water layers of several micrometers thickness, sufficiently thick to contain eukaryotic cells. We determined the resolution obtained on gold nanoparticles above and below water layers with thicknesses ranging from 1.3 – 13 μm. The best achieved resolution values were 1.4 nm and 9 nm, above 3.3 μm and below 1.3 μm of water, respectively. A theoretical model included probe broadening and Monte Carlo simulations were developed to describe the resolution as function of the sample parameters.