Nanoscale Three-Dimensional Charge Density and Electric Field Mapping by Electron Holographic Tomography

Nano Lett. 2023 Feb 8;23(3):843-849. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.2c03879. Epub 2023 Jan 23.

Abstract

The operation of nanoscale electronic devices is related intimately to the three-dimensional (3D) charge density distributions within them. Here, we demonstrate the quantitative 3D mapping of the charge density and long-range electric field associated with an electrically biased carbon fiber nanotip with a spatial resolution of approximately 5 nm using electron holographic tomography in the transmission electron microscope combined with model-based iterative reconstruction. The approach presented here can be applied to a wide range of other nanoscale materials and devices.

Keywords: charge density; electric field; electron holography; three-dimensional mapping; tomography.