Resolving 45-pm-separated Si–Si atomic columns with an aberration-corrected STEM

Si-Si atomic columns separated by 45 pm were successfully resolved with a 300-kV aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) equipped with a cold-field emission gun. Using a sufficiently small Gaussian effective source size and a 0.4-eV energy spread at 300 kV, the focused electron probe on the specimen was simulated to be sub-50 pm. Image simulation showed that the present probe condition was sufficient to resolve 45 pm Si-Si dumbbells. A silicon crystalline specimen was observed from the [114] direction with a high-angle annular dark field STEM and the intensity profile showed 45 pm separation. A spot corresponding to (45 pm)(-1) was confirmed in the power spectrum of the Fourier transform.