HKIAS Distinguished Lecture

Disclose the secret of 3D atomic dynamics with high space / time resolution TEM

Professor Fu-Rong Chen delivered a talk "Disclose the secret of 3D atomic dynamics with high space / time resolution TEM"

On 15 January 2020, Professor Fu-Rong Chen, Chair Professor in Department of Materials Science and Engineering at City University of Hong Kong (CityU), delivered a presentation titled "Disclose the secret of 3D atomic dynamics with high space / time resolution TEM" for Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study at CityU.

Over the past decade, electron microscopy has become indispensable for scientists to interpret their findings on nano-materials at the atomic-scale. In the talk, Professor Chen explained the principle and optical structure of Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). He pointed out the major limitation of TEM – radiation damage and elaborated by examples on electron beam effect in structural materials and functional materials.

Professor Chen introduced the world’s first-ever state-of-the-art Time-Resolved Aberration Corrected Environmental (TRACE) TEM, which is going to be set up at the High Space / Time Resolved In-situ TEM (HiSTRI) Laboratory of CityU.

According to Professor Chen, this unique TEM equipped with a special electron gun and a low dose sensitive camera which could effectively minimize electron radiation damage on nano-materials surface and able to record high space / time resolved dynamics of the observing object.

Furthermore, Professor Chen shared the recent development of interaction-free measurement in light optics to electron optics. He also discussed how to achieve the concept of "Quantum Seeing in the Dark" in the quantum electron microscope.

The talk was well received by various professors, scholars, graduate students and post-doctoral researchers at CityU. All participants were inspired by the development progress of TEM and discussed vigorously with the speaker.

Professor Chen received his bachelor degree in Electronic Engineering at National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan in 1980; he obtained his PhD in Materials Science at Stony Brook University, USA in 1986. His research interests are in low dose 3D atomic resolution electron tomography, soft materials dynamics imaging, quantum electron microscopy and solar energy tunable (SET) glass.

Distinguished scholars at CityU attended the talk. (From left) Professor David Srolovitz, Professor Fu-Rong Chen, Professor Jacob Huang and Professor Yong Yang.

Professor Alex Jen Kwan-yue, CityU Provost and Chair Professor of Chemistry and Materials Science.

Around 100 people participated in the talk.