About the Seminar:

Over the last two decades, we have witnessed a paradigm change in the way we characterize materials using electron microscopy. This latest revolution in resolution began in the late 1990’s with the first successful implementation of an objective lens aberration corrector, which improved the spatial resolution of transmission (TEM) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) by more than a factor of two to below 50 pm. These developments were followed by faster, more sensitive direct electron (CMOS) detectors, monochromated electron sources for electron spectroscopy and, most recently, magnetic field-free lenses. As the result of these transformative discoveries, we are now able to study biological and condensed matter materials with unprecedented resolution, sensitivity and precision. While spatial and energy resolutions better than 60 pm and 10 meV have been reported, aberration-corrected TEM has also enabled a large variety of in-situ experiments at close to atomic resolution. This has enabled us to correlate the atomic structure with i) the properties of multi-valent ion intercalation cathodes, ii) the dynamics of vacancies in thin films and iii) thermal response of 2D materials, to only mention a few examples.

Bio

Dr. Robert F. Klie is a Full Professor of Physics at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a world leader in the in-situ characterization of complex materials interfaces. He focuses on aberration-corrected imaging and spectroscopy of photovoltaic and battery cathode materials at the atomic scale using scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). In recent years. Dr. Klie has pioneered novel approaches to studying water, biological systems and solid-liquid interfaces using graphene liquid cells and ultra-high resolution electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS). Dr. Klie has published over 180 peer-reviewed papers with more than 5,400 citations, given more than 80 invited talks at prestigious international conferences, and has an h-index of 38. His scientific achievements have been recognized by a number of prestigious awards, including the Brookhaven Goldhaber Distinguished Fellowship and the University of Illinois Researcher of the Year award. Dr. Klie is also in charge of the Functional and Regenerative Materials Initiative at the University of Illinois, bringing together scientists from the medical field and the areas of materials science and engineering to develop multi-modal approaches for in-vivo sensors or tissue regeneration.