Accurate calibration and record keeping of both the cumulative electron dose and the dose rate, also known as flux (electrons per area per second) is fundamentally important for both interpreting and reproducing the results of any in situ TEM studies.
Protochips’ AXON Dose is a machine-vision software paired with a dedicated Faraday-cup calibration holder designed to calibrate and index the electron dose conditions throughout the course of a TEM experiment, and index them on a pixel-by-pixel basis to each image Once calibrated for a given set of conditions, the user can operate the microscope freely, without the need to keep track of changes to imaging conditions such as magnification, spot size, or intensity.
To aid live-imaging session, you can easily read cumulative and dose rate values, set dose threshold warnings, and apply color-mapped overlays to indicate when dose thresholds are approaching. Post experiment, you can plot and graphically represent dose conditions over the course an experiment, adjust overlays and create dose-information enriched images and movies, streamlining the path to publication.
In this example, you can see a low magnification TEM image , taken at the end of a liquid-EM experiment in which gold nanoparticles were grown in situ. The color-coded AXON Dose overlay makes these regions easy to identify, and the cumulative dose value for each pixel is automatically indexed to the image, reducing analysis time and simplifying experimental interpretation.
Interested in learning more about Protochips’ AXON Dose management software?
- Learn more about how AXON Dose functions in our JoVE paper: A Machine-Vision Approach to Transmission Electron Microscopy Workflows, Results Analysis and Data Management
- For an overview of how AXON Dose is used, download our Using Protochips AXON Software for Tracking Electron Flux and Cumulative Dose
- Want to know more about radiolysis in liquid phase EM? Download this applications note!
- If you’d like to see how AXON Dose can augment and enhance a dataset, you can register for the Protochips’ Success Community and download sample datasets to use with Protochips’ free analysis software AXON Studio, which is available on both the Microsoft and Apple App Stores.
- Interested in speaking to someone about your research, and how you can integrate in situ liquid TEM into your studies? Contact us here.
