The application of transmission electron microscopes (TEM) to obtain high-resolution information involves the problem of objective lens aberrations. If the TEM is appropriately aligned, the wave aberrations are mainly caused by the spherical aberration of the objective lens. Phase contrast transfer function or contrast transfer function (CTF) describes how aberrations in a TEM modify the image of a sample. A comprehensive understanding of the CTF is vital to analyzing high-resolution images in electron microscopy. In working on aberration-corrected (AC-) TEMs, automatic correction functions do not always exhibit optimal performance. Thus, the analysis of CTF is particularly important to achieve the best resolution using the manual control mode. CTF (exCTF) simulator to perform the primary and extensive CTF calculation, designed to obtain more information than the early reported software. As inspired by the previous software on CTF, we developed the CTFscope as a simulation and visualization tool of the CTF with user-friendly interface for conventional TEM and AC-TEM. It expects that the CTFscope will help readers better understand the instrumental performance information and the effects of the aberration parameters for TEM image formation through CTF simulation and visualization. |
The main frame of the CTFscope with a graphic panel and (b) a dialogue box for microscope setup and optical parameters.