Quicktime as a Storage Medium for Dynamic Data Sets in In-Situ Electron Microscopy

Extract

The field of in-situ electron microscopy has recently become very active. Microscopy and Microanalysis 1997 was host to an extended symposium devoted entirely to in-situ studies. Also, a recent Winter School sponsored by Arizona State University was devoted entirely to in-situ electron microscopy and drew over 90 attendees. Examination of the presentations and papers in these in-situ symposia has revealed that the researchers involved still have problems acquiring, managing and storing and manipulating their data. An in-situ experiment, by its very nature, is dynamic and recording micrographs is typically not the optimum method of image acquisition. Videotape is the preferred medium. High grade S-video recording of experiments permits the extraction of single frames of reasonable quality from the tapes for presentation and publication. There are, however, a number of problems with video recording. During in-situ studies a number of variables in the sample environment are changing, e.g. the pressure, the temperature, the stress, the strain and the microscope parameters (accelerating voltage, beam current, magnification, specimen tilt, etc.).