Our research focus is the structural characterization of nano crystalline material. As a major tool we use transmission electron microscopy mainly collecting electron diffraction data sampling the three dimensional diffraction space. For this purpose we developed in 2007 the method automated diffraction tomography (ADT). It is applicable to a wide range of TEMs with different equipment and origin. Here we provide a short history and basic description of the method, a series of application cases together with hints how to access special crystallographic questions as well as a description of the data processing programms ADT3D and eADT.
Structural investigations have been successfully performed on a wide range of materials (see ADT applications) including beam sensitive compounds like pharmaceuticals, MOFs, small organic molecules like pigments, nano crystalline material down to 20nm size like biominerals, porous materials with and without organic templates/guests in the channels or intergrown/disordered structures mainly used in catalysis. Samples may originate from nature like hydroxylapatite, charoite, natrolite or derived from synthesis like vaterite, calcium carbonate hemihydrate and can be used as powder or as thinned samples.
Research at the High resolution transmission electron microscopy center (EMC-M) of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz covers biological, chemical and physical topics. In the research of this group we use imaging and diffraction experiments, spectroscopy (EELS, EDX) as well as ab-initio structure analysis based on three dimensionally reconstructed diffraction data. (ADT) Together with a variety of sample preparation techniques we provide flexible solutions for solving structural quests of crystalline as well as of non-crystalline material. A small selection is presented under other techniques.