Waltham, Mass. — Thermo Fisher Scientific has introduced the Thermo Scientific EMPAD G2 electron detector, designed to enable faster four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy, or 4D STEM, for advanced materials research.
The detector can operate at 10,000 frames per second, or 0.1 milliseconds per frame, while providing a single-frame dynamic range of more than 10⁷, single-electron sensitivity and operation across the 30–300 kV range.
EMPAD G2 is designed to allow researchers to capture both strong and weak signals in a single scan without sacrificing imaging speed or data quality. The capability can help scientists analyze material characteristics including structure, chemistry, strain and electric and magnetic properties.
“The EMPAD G2 gives scientists a deeper view of materials and the information they need to explore what those materials can do,” said Glyn Davies, President of Materials and Structural Analysis at Thermo Fisher Scientific. “By making advanced 4D STEM faster, more reliable and easier to use, we can help researchers accelerate discoveries in areas such as semiconductors, energy and advanced materials — and ultimately enable new technologies that can improve our everyday lives.”
Applications for the detector include strain mapping, differential phase contrast, electric and magnetic field mapping and multi-slice electron ptychography for three-dimensional characterization at the atomic scale.
Thermo Fisher said the system is designed to maintain high detective quantum efficiency, or DQE, of more than 0.9 across its operating range while acquiring data at high speeds.
David Muller, Ph.D., Samuel B. Eckert Professor of Engineering at Cornell University’s School of Applied and Engineering Physics, said the project allowed researchers to develop a detector specifically optimized for scanning transmission electron microscopy.
“The EMPAD G2 project gave us a unique opportunity to design a detector specifically optimized for STEM, rather than TEM or x-ray imaging,” Muller said.
EMPAD G2 is integrated with Thermo Scientific Velox software, allowing researchers to collect and analyze 4D STEM and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy data within the same workflow. Thermo Fisher said the integration is intended to simplify advanced materials analysis and improve the reliability and repeatability of results.
The detector is expected to become available Aug. 31.
