Development of a high-energy-resolution, lanthanum hexaboride nanowire-based field emission gun

The National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) and JEOL, Ltd. have developed a lanthanum hexaboride (LaB6) nanowire-based field emission gun that is installable on an aberration-corrected transmission electron microscope (TEM). This combined unit is able to perform atomic resolution observation at an energy resolution of 0.2 eV—the highest resolution ever recorded for non-monochromatic electron guns—with a high current stability of 0.4%.