Osteocytes communicate through a canalicular system that maintains the vitality and mineral metabolism of bone. Casting the vascular canals and canaliculi of compact bone with methacrylate and viewing them with scanning electron microscopy shows their extent and relationships. Confocal laser scanning microscopy of the same specimen before corrosion establishes the degree of calcification of the different tissue components. These methods were used to compare basal with alveolar compact bone in the rat mandible at different ages. Sections of the mandibular molar region were placed in a methacrylate resin. After polymerization and study with confocal microscopy, the organic matrix was removed. Juvenile rats had large irregular central vascular canals and lacunae that were more concentric in the basal than the alveolar bone. Cast lacunae were round, and the canaliculi from these lacunae were short and thick in both bones. Adult rats had regular concentrically arranged lacunae in the basal bone. Cast lacunae were ellipsoid and flatter in the basal bone than in the alveolar bone. The intercommunicating canaliculi were increased and canaliculi had more branching than the juvenile rats. The aged rats had fewer vascular canals, lacunae, and canaliculi and had osteoporotic changes. The cast lacunae were slender and flat especially in the basal bone. The porosity of the mandible became more pronounced in the alveolar than in the basal bone with aging. The canaliculi of mandibular compact bone thinned and developed extensive branching with adulthood but decreased in size and number with advanced age. Lacunae proceed from the large circular structures of youth to the flat forms of the aged. These studies show that the internal structure of compact bone changes with age and mirrors its functional state.

We have recently reported the synthesis of one-dimensional nanobelt structures of ZnO, SnO2, In2O3, CdO, Ga2O3, and PbO2 by evaporating the desired commercial metal oxide powders at high temperatures (Science (2001), 291, 1947). The as-synthesized oxide nanobelts are pure, structurally uniform, single crystalline, and most of them free from dislocations. The beltlike morphology appears to be a unique and common structural characteristic for the family of semiconducting oxides. In the present article, we focus on the twin and stacking fault planar defects found in oxide nanobelts and nanowires although they are rarely observed. Some interesting and unique growth morphologies are presented to illustrate the roles played by surface energy and kinetics in growth. It is shown that the surfaces of the oxide nanobelts are enclosed by the low-index, low-energy crystallographic facets. The growth morphology is largely dominated by the growth kinetics.

Twinning plays an important role in phase transformations and can have significant effects on microstructural evolution. Different roles of twinning in the development of microstructures during precipitation and phase transformations are reviewed and illustrated with examples from investigations by high-resolution electron microscopy, including the effect of multiple twinning on the development of Ge precipitates in Al-Ge and Ag-Ge alloys, the twin dissociation of grain boundaries in Au, the formation of hexagonal Si at twin intersections and the effect of twin boundaries on the equilibrium shape of Pb inclusions in Al.

The influence of surface structure and chemistry on high-temperature dewetting of silicate liquids on ceramic surfaces has been investigated. Model systems based on well-defined crystallography and known chemistry have been used to illustrate the effect of surface roughness and chemistry on the dewetting process. Reconstructed ceramic surfaces provide ideal substrates to study effects of surface roughness. It has been shown that the morphology of dewet droplets depend on the length scale and the crystallography of the facets on the surface. Complex pattern formation due to solute redistribution during dewetting is illustrated in the case of SiO2 dewetting on (001) rutile substrates. The role of kinetics on the dewetting process has also been clarified.

Modulation of lymphocyte flow in the lymphatic compartment of the lymph node may serve, in part, to promote lymphocyte sensitization during an antigenic challenge. This study was undertaken to show where this might occur by examining the structural relationships of the intranodal lymphatic pathways, blood vessels, and connective tissue support with respect to lymphocyte and lymph flow. Differently stained plastic resins were injected into the blood vessels and lymphatics of the submandibular lymph node and visualized with a confocal laser scanning microscope. The specimens were corroded to study the three-dimensional cast structures by scanning electron microscopy. Alkali digestion was also used to prepare the reticular fiber network in the lymph node for scanning electron microscopic examination. At the hilus of the node, two to three arteries gave off arterioles running in medullary cords towards the cortex. The medullary cords, the periphery of the deep cortex, and the perifollicular zones had dense capillary networks. In contrast, the center of the follicle and the center of the deep cortex were less highly vascularized. High-endothelial venules were restricted to the perifollicular zone and the periphery of the deep cortex. At the cortico-medullary boundary, they abruptly transformed into medullary venules with a normal endothelium. The marginal sinus of the lymph node was crossed by thick reticular fibers that arose from the inner sheets of the capsule. The lymph pathway went through the marginal sinus, into the trabecular sinus, to the cortical perifollicular sinus, the dense lymphatic sinus around the deep cortex, and finally into the medullary sinus. At present, the exact functional significance of the complex lymph node lymphatic architecture is not clear. However, the highly organized structural organization may play a significant role in regulating and directing lymphocyte flow to facilitate antigen presentation.

20th Anniversary Technologists' Forum 1982–2002: The Technologists' Forum, MSA's first and largest Focused Interest Group, is an integral part of MSA which advances technical aspects of the microscopies from the local to the national level. The Forum provides opportunities for discussion of interests, problems and professional needs of microscopy technologists, increases contact among its members and expands their participation in and contributions to MSA.

Forum Chairs and Officers

Charter Members

We describe a method for predicting detection limits of minority elements in electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), and its implementation as a software package that gives quantitative predictions for user-specified materials and experimental conditions. The method is based on modeling entire energy loss spectra, including shot noise as well as instrumental noise, and taking into account all the relevant experimental parameters. We describe the steps involved in modeling the entire spectrum, from the zero loss up to inner shell edges, and pay particular attention to the contributions to the pre-edge background. The predicted spectra are used to evaluate the signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) for inner shell edges from user-specified minority elements. The software also predicts the minimum detectable mass (MDM) and minimum mass fraction (MMF). It can be used to ascertain whether an element present at a particular concentration should be detectable for given experimental conditions, and also to quickly and quantitatively explore ways of optimizing the experimental conditions for a particular EELS analytical task. We demonstrate the usefulness of the software by confirming the recent empirical observation of single atom detection using EELS of phosphorus in thin carbon films, and show the effect on the SNR of varying the acquisition parameters. The case of delta-doped semiconductors is also considered as an important example from materials science where low detection limits and high spatial resolution are essential, and the feasibility of such characterization using EELS is assessed.

This article presents a comprehensive investigation of (La, Sr)FeO3 by correlated atomic resolution annular dark field imaging and electron energy loss spectroscopy. Here, the ability of these techniques to characterize point defect formation and phase transitions under reducing conditions in situ in the scanning transmission electron microscope is evaluated and the influence of oxygen vacancies on the structure–property relationships is discussed. In particular, the evolution of the Ruddlesden–Popper, Brownmillerite, and Aurivillius phases can be associated directly with the ionic and electronic conductivity of the bulk material under different thermodynamic conditions. These results lead naturally to an atomistic defect chemistry model to explain the high temperature ionic and electronic conductivity in this and other perovskite materials.

We have performed high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) image simulations to qualitatively assess the visibility of various structural defects in ultrathin gate oxides of MOSFET devices, and to quantitatively examine the accuracy of HRTEM in performing gate oxide metrology. Structural models contained crystalline defects embedded in an amorphous 16-Å-thick gate oxide. Simulated images were calculated for structures viewed in cross section. Defect visibility was assessed as a function of specimen thickness and defect morphology, composition, size, and orientation. Defect morphologies included asperities lying on the substrate surface, as well as “bridging” defects connecting the substrate to the gate electrode. Measurements of gate oxide thickness extracted from simulated images were compared to actual dimensions in the model structure to assess TEM accuracy for metrology. The effects of specimen tilt, specimen thickness, objective lens defocus, and coefficient of spherical aberration (Cs) on measurement accuracy were explored for nominal 10-Å gate oxide thickness. Results from this work suggest that accurate metrology of ultrathin gate oxides (i.e., limited to several percent error) is feasible on a consistent basis only by using a Cs-corrected microscope. However, fundamental limitations remain for characterizing defects in gate oxides using HRTEM, even with the new generation of Cs-corrected microscopes.

Lattice strains around a platelet oxygen precipitate in Si wafer is studied by energy filtering convergent-beam electron diffraction (CBED) and calculations based on the finite element method (FEM). Local lattice strains are measured from CBED patterns obtained with a probe size less than 2 nm in a specimen thicker than 450 nm. Strains measured are compressive along a direction normal to a plate of the precipitate and tensile along a direction parallel to the plate. Two-dimensional stress fields near the precipitate are obtained with FEM computer analyses by fitting the measured strains. It appears that shear stresses are concentrated at the end of the precipitate edge and the maximum shear stress at an interface between the precipitate and the Si-matrix is 1.9 GPa. It is demonstrated that a combination of the energy filtering CBED and FEM is very useful for the study of local strains near interfaces in semiconductor devices, in particular for the study of stress fields that are too steep for application of the conventional CBED technique.

The technique of imaging time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) and dual beam depth profiling has been used to study the composition of the surface of tabular silver halide microcrystals. Analysis of individual microcrystals with a size well below 1 μm from a given emulsion is possible. The method is successfully applied for the characterization of silver halide microcrystals with subpercent global iodide concentrations confined in surface layers with a thickness below 5 nm. The developed TOF-SIMS analytical procedure is explicitly demonstrated for the molecular imaging of adsorbed thiocyanate layers (SCN) at crystal surfaces of individual crystals and for the differentiation of iodide conversion layers synthesized with KI and with AgI micrates (nanocrystals with a size between 10 and 50 nm). It can be concluded that TOF-SIMS as a microanalytical, surface-sensitive technique has some unique properties over other analytical techniques for the study of complex structured surface layers of silver halide microcrystals. This offers valuable information to support the synthesis of future photographic emulsions.

Behavior of fine crystalline particles of W5Si3 on a β-Si3N4 substrate at high temperatures was observed by an in situ heating experiment in a transmission electron microscope. Some of the fine particles of W5Si3 moved in a to-and-fro manner.

A melt-spun Mg-1.5%wtCa-6wt%Zn alloy was analyzed by means of transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and scanning transmission electron microscopy. The as-solidified alloy exhibited both spherical matrix precipitates and elongated precipitates at the grain boundaries (grain-boundary films). After heat treatment, the alloy showed faceted precipitates (cuboidal shape), mostly on dislocations. It was found that the observed precipitates are the same compound, Ca2Mg6Zn3. As there was no crystallographic data for this compound in the literature, its crystal structure was investigated by comparison of experimental and simulated selected-area electron-diffraction patterns and high-resolution electron microscopy images. This study indicated that Ca2Mg6Zn3 is a trigonal compound with space group P31c and lattice parameters a = 0.97 nm, c = 1.0 nm.

The structural evolution in amorphous silicon and germanium thin films has been investigated by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) in conjunction with autocorrelation function (ACF) analysis. The results established that the structure of as-deposited semiconductor films is of a high density of nanocrystallites embedded in the amorphous matrix. In addition, from ACF analysis, the structure of a-Ge is more ordered than that of a-Si. The density of embedded nanocrystallites in amorphous films was found to diminish with annealing temperature first, then to increase. The conclusions also corroborate well with the results of diminished medium-range order in annealed amorphous films determined previously by a variable coherence microscopy method.

Measuring the changing thickness of a thin film, without a reference, using an atomic force microscope (AFM) is problematic. Here, we report a method for measuring film thickness based on in situ monitoring of surface roughness of films as their thickness changes. For example, in situ AFM roughness measurements have been performed on alloy film electrodes on rigid substrates as they react with lithium electrochemically. The addition (or removal) of lithium to (or from) the alloy causes the latter to expand (or contract) reversibly in the direction perpendicular to the substrate and, in principle, the change in the overall height of these materials is directly proportional to the change in roughness. If the substrate on which the film is deposited is not perfectly smooth, a correction to the direct proportionality is needed and this is also discussed.

Metallographic Specimen Preparation, Organizer: George Vander Voort

Problem Solving with the Experts

Addressing Issues in Digital Imaging for the Microscopist: II, Organizer: Jose Mascorro

Core Facility Management, Organizer: Debby Sherman

Technologists\' Forum Roundtable Discussion: Legal and Ethical Issues of Data Ownership, Organizer: Jeanette Killius

Technologists\' Forum Special Topics: Immunology 101: Back to Basics, Organizer: Jeanette Killius

Computer Workshop/Software Exchange and the Internet Cafe, Organizers: Nestor Zaluzec and John Mansfield

Microscopy for Canadian schools—A Discussion of Ways and Means, Organizer: Caroline Schooley

Stereology: Quantitative Characterization of Metallic and Ceramic Microstructures Considering Different Grain Shapes, Organizer: Frank Mücklich

Electron diffraction has been recently used in the pharmaceutical industry to study the polymorphism in crystalline drug substances. While conventional X-ray diffraction patterns could not be used to determine the cell parameters of two forms of the microcrystalline GP IIb/IIIa receptor antagonist roxifiban, a combination of electron single-crystal and synchrotron powder diffraction techniques were able to clearly distinguish the two polymorphs. The unit-cell parameters of the two polymorphs were ultimately determined using new software routines designed to take advantage of each technique's unique capabilities. The combined use of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and synchrotron patterns appears to be a good general approach for characterizing complex (low-symmetry, large-unit-cell, micron-sized) polymorphic pharmaceutical compounds.