UTEM & LUMiNaD
General Information
This is the first Ultrafast-TEM in Italy, where a femtosecond laser is coupled to a Transmission Electron Microscope to provide simultaneous high temporal (fs) and high spatial (< nm’s) resolutions. Because of the versatility of our cross-scale approach, which combines real-space (imaging) and reciprocal-space (diffraction) with high temporal resolution, the UTEM at LUMiNaD provides the unique capability of observing many fundamental phenomena, such as: i) the ultrafast dynamics of low-dimensional materials, ii) electronic/structural correlations under non-equilibrium conditions, iii) real-time evolution of nano-chemical and biophysical systems, iv) light-induced coherent modulation of a free-electron wavefunction, and v) the electron/light/matter quantum interaction at sub-wavelength scales.
Tecnical description
The Ultrafast Transmission Electron Microscope (UTEM) built and operated in the LUMiNaD laboratory of the University of Milano-Bicocca is obtained by interfacing together a Transmission Electron Microscope (JEOL JEM-2100 TEM) with an Amplified Femtosecond Laser (PHAROS, Light Conversion) via a coupling module with three optical accesses. The TEM is also equipped with state-of-the-art sample holders and electron detection tools.
Research areas and applications
1) ultrafast phenomena in nanoscale quantum materials; 2) light-induced coherent modulation of a free-electron wavefunction; 3) dynamic behavior of nano-chemical and biophysical systems; 4) dynamic control of magnetic systems; 5) electron-structural correlations in non-equilibrium condition.
Science highlights
Experimental team
- Giovanni Maria Vanacore
- University of Milano Bicocca
- Associate Professor