Present developments in high-resolution transmission electron microscopy

High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) now approaches a resolution of 1 Å, combining recent instrumental developments with innovative strategies of imaging and image processing. Moreover, HRTEM has become a truly ‘quantitative’ technique that enables one to retrieve the atomistic structure of materials with high and well-known reliability. At the same time, HRTEM has found new applications: plan-view imaging of the atom configuration at reconstructed crystal surfaces; and atomistic in situ observation of diffusion reactions and defect kinetics in solids.