EFTEM spectrum imaging at high-energy resolution

This paper deals with the application of high-energy resolution EFTEM image series and the corrections needed for reliable data interpretation. The detail of spectral information gained from an image series is largely determined by the intrinsic energy resolution. In this work we show that energy resolution values of as low as 0.8 eV in spectra extracted from EFTEM image series can be obtained with a small energy-selecting slit. At this resolution level aberrations of the energy filter, in particular the non-isochromaticity, can no longer be neglected. We show that the four most prominent factors for EFTEM image series data correction—spatial drift, non-isochromaticity, energy drift and image distortion—must not be treated independently but have to be corrected in unison. We present an efficient algorithm for this correction, and demonstrate the applied correction for the case of a GaN/AlN multilayer sample.