Time-resolved measurement of the three-dimensional motion of gold nanocrystals in water using diffracted electron tracking

We introduce diffracted electron tracking (DET), which combines two electron microscopy techniques, electron backscatter diffraction and the use of an environmental cell in a scanning electron microscope to measure changes in nanocrystal-orientation. The accuracy of DET was verified by measuring the motion of a flat gold crystal caused by the rotation or tilting of the specimen stage. DET was applied to measure the motion of semi-fixed gold nanocrystals in various environments. In addition to large motions induced in water environment, DET could detect small differences in the three-dimensional (3D) motion amplitude between vacuum environment and an Ar gas environment. DET promises to be a useful method for measuring the motion of single nanocrystals in various environments. This measuring technique may be used in a wide range of scientific fields; for example, DET may be a prospective method to track the single molecule dynamics of molecules labeled with gold nanocrystals.