High-precision analysis of 2D materials microstructures achieved using electron microscopy and machine learning

A research team led by National Institute for Materials Science, Japan, has, for the first time, produced nanoscale images of two key features in an ultra-thin material: twist domains (areas where one atomic layer is slightly rotated relative to another) and polarities (differences in atomic orientation) by combining scanning transmission electron microscopy with artificial intelligence.

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Simple algorithm paired with standard imaging tool could predict failure in lithium metal batteries

Researchers at UC San Diego have developed a straightforward yet effective technique using scanning electron microscopy to evaluate lithium metal battery performance, potentially speeding up the creation of safer, longer-lasting, and more energy-dense batteries for electric vehicles and large-scale energy storage. Lithium metal batteries can store twice the energy of current lithium-ion batteries, which could significantly extend the range of electric cars and the battery life of devices. However, achieving this requires controlling how lithium deposits during charging; uniform deposits lead to longer battery life, while uneven deposits form dangerous dendrites that can cause short circuits and battery failure.

Historically, researchers have largely determined the uniformity of lithium deposits by visually assessing microscope images. This practice has led to inconsistent analyses between labs, which has made it difficult to compare results across studies.

“What one battery group may define as uniform might be different from another group’s definition,” said study first author Jenny Nicolas, a materials science and engineering Ph.D. candidate at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. “The battery literature also uses so many different qualitative words to describe lithium morphology — words like chunky, mossy, whisker-like and globular, for example. We saw a need to create a common language to define and measure lithium uniformity.”

To do so, Nicolas and colleagues — led by Ping Liu, professor in the Aiiso Yufeng Li Family Department of Chemical and Nano Engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering — developed a simple algorithm that analyzes how evenly lithium is spread across scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. The researchers used SEM because it offers detailed images of battery electrodes by capturing 3D surface features as 2D grayscale images — it is also a widely used technique in battery research.

To use their method, the team first takes SEM images of battery electrodes and converts them to black and white pixels. The white pixels represent the topmost lithium deposits in the sample and black pixels represent either the substrate or inactive lithium. The images are divided into multiple regions, and the algorithm counts the number of white pixels in each, then calculates a metric called the index of dispersion (ID).

“The index of dispersion is a measure of lithium uniformity,” Nicolas explained. “The closer it is to zero, the more uniform the lithium deposits. A higher value means less uniformity and more clustering of lithium particles in certain areas.”

The team first validated the method on 2,048 synthetic SEM images with known particle size distributions. The ID measurements aligned with the ground-truth distributions, which confirmed the method’s accuracy. The team then applied the method to real electrode images to analyze how lithium morphology changes over time under different cycling conditions. They found that as batteries cycled, the ID increased — indicating more uneven lithium deposits. Meanwhile, the energy required for lithium to deposit increased — a sign of degradation. In addition, the researchers found that local peaks and dips in the ID consistently appeared just before cells failed. Such peaks and dips could serve as an early warning sign of short circuits.

A big advantage of this method is that it is accessible. Battery researchers already use SEM imaging as part of their studies, Nicolas noted, and they can use the simple algorithm presented here to calculate the ID from the data they already collect.

“Our tool can be employed as a low-hanging fruit for researchers to take their analysis to the next level by utilizing image analysis to its fullest potential,” she said.

For more information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Image: Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images are already a common staple of battery research. Now, they can be paired with a simple algorithm to enable better prediction of lithium metal battery performance and failure. Credit: Jenny Nicolas et al.

TESCAN expands its presence in Asia

Czech-based electron microscope manufacturer TESCAN plans to establish a local subsidiary in Taiwan in 2025 to meet rising demand from semiconductor clients across the Asia-Pacific region.

Founded in Brno, the Czech Republic’s second-largest city, TESCAN built its reputation over three decades in fields like materials science and geoscience. In recent years, however, the company has pivoted toward the semiconductor industry, with a particular focus on the rapidly expanding advanced packaging segment.

TESCAN’s advanced packaging FA solution is built around a hybrid workflow that integrates scanning electron microscopy (SEM), focused ion beam (FIB), and other inspection tools into a seamless, cross-platform system. The setup aims to reduce testing time, cut labor requirements, and speed up R&D while improving yield outcomes.

Described as a “full-body checkup” for chips, the solution uses a suite of diagnostic tools—much like a team of medical specialists—to identify failure points across materials and structures. This approach has proven essential for OSAT providers, foundries, and IC design houses alike.

According to TESCAN Taiwan country manager Robert Feng, FA begins with non-destructive testing to locate potential defects without damaging the sample. The next phase involves destructive analysis using laser cutting for speed, followed by dual-beam systems to isolate and expose the faulty regions.

The process continues with SEM imaging via the dual-beam system to analyze interfaces and defect signatures. To address the rising need for structural stress and material composition analysis, TESCAN also provides a 4D STEM-enabled platform that measures internal stress fields and compositional shifts, supporting both process refinement and next-gen packaging evolution.
TESCAN’s semiconductor strategy—centered on failure analysis and advanced packaging—is gaining momentum thanks to integrated technologies and region-specific applications.

According to APAC managing director Sean Lee, the semiconductor business in Asia-Pacific contributed nearly 50% of the company’s global revenue in 2024. “There’s still plenty of room to grow,” he said.

For 2025, Lee projects a 40% revenue surge in APAC, fueled largely by Chinese demand, with semiconductor-related sales expected to account for about half of that growth.

As a challenger in the semiconductor equipment space, TESCAN is still trailing global leaders in market share. To gain ground, the company is leaning into product flexibility and differentiation.

Lee highlights technologies such as CoWoS, 2.5D/3D, and heterogeneous integration as major drivers of increased FA complexity. TESCAN’s strategy focuses on large-format and customized inspection demands, delivering broader and deeper coverage tailored to client-specific requirements.
TESCAN’s edge, Lee says, lies in its singular focus: “We only do electron microscopes.” Unlike competitors with sprawling product portfolios, the company offers more streamlined and responsive collaboration.

Most equipment vendors favor standardized models to maximize cost and production efficiency. TESCAN, however, starts with the unmet needs of leading customers and gradually scales into more price-sensitive segments—a strategy built on flexibility and differentiation.

Across the region, Lee says, packaging customers want FA tools that are faster, more precise, and competitively priced. TESCAN has targeted sample preparation, the bottleneck in the testing workflow, and introduced AI and machine learning to streamline it. The result: faster output, fewer manual errors, and relief for an industry plagued by skilled labor shortages.

Feng notes that training an operator in sample preparation and analysis typically takes six to twelve months. But with product lifecycles shrinking, delays are no longer acceptable. TESCAN’s solution reduces prep time from four hours to under one, even for first-time users.

Lee points out that Taiwan and China together account for over 70% of the global advanced packaging market. Many Chinese customers are Taiwan-owned or managed by Taiwanese executives, making Greater China the most critical hub for packaging technology and a core driver of TESCAN’s APAC expansion.

Although Lee concedes that launching the Taiwan office in 2025 is “a beat late” and would have been better timed two years earlier, he believes conditions remain favorable. As client technologies mature and US-China chip tensions intensify, China’s localization drive makes this an opportune moment.

Following the acquisitions of TESCAN Korea and anti-vibration system maker Daeil Microanalysis Laboratory (DML), the company will open new subsidiaries in Taiwan and Singapore in 2025. Moving away from agent-based distribution marks a major step in strengthening brand visibility and service capabilities across the APAC semiconductor market.

In the past, Taiwan clients relied on local agents for sales and service, which created delays in communicating feedback to TESCAN’s R&D hub in the Czech Republic, slowing development and impeding local adaptation.

To avoid missing out on co-innovation opportunities, TESCAN opted to establish its subsidiaries, enabling technical teams to work directly with clients. This move shortens communication loops, accelerates market responsiveness, and enhances local support across key APAC markets—including Taiwan, China, South Korea, and Malaysia—while deepening regional collaboration.

 

Image – Sean Lee (L) and Robert Feng (R). Courtesy of: DIGITIMES.

 

For more information:
TESCAN
https://www.tescan.com/

 

Fujitsu and RIKEN develop world-leading 256-qubit superconducting quantum computer

Fujitsu Limited and RIKEN have developed a cutting-edge 256-qubit superconducting quantum computer at the RIKEN RQC-FUJITSU Collaboration Center, building on the 64-qubit version launched in October 2023 with support from Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). This advancement incorporates high-density implementation techniques, marking a significant step toward practical applications of superconducting quantum computers to address complex global issues. Starting in the first quarter of fiscal 2025, the 256-qubit quantum computer will be integrated into a hybrid quantum computing platform and offered to companies and research institutions worldwide, enabling more complex analyses and sophisticated error correction algorithms.

Moving forward, both organizations will further enhance the platform’s usability by working to enable seamless collaboration between quantum and classical computers, enabling the efficient execution of hybrid quantum-classical algorithms.

Fujitsu and RIKEN’s 256-qubit superconducting quantum computer overcomes some key technical challenges, including appropriate cooling within the dilution refrigerator which is achieved through the incorporation of high-density implementation and cutting-edge thermal design. Other key features include:

1. Scalable 3D connection structure

  • Enables efficient scaling of qubit count without requiring complex redesigns by arranging 4-qubit unit cells in a 3D configuration
  • The 256-qubit machine utilizes the same unit cell design established in its 64-qubit predecessor, effectively demonstrating the scalability of this architectural approach

2. Quadrupled implementation density within dilution refrigerator

  • Quadrupled implementation density achieved within the dilution refrigerator, allowing the 256-qubit machine to operate within the same cooling unit as the 64-qubit system
  • Highly optimized design that carefully balances heat generation from control circuits with the cooling capacity of the refrigerator, while maintaining the necessary ultra-high vacuum and extremely low temperatures

Fujitsu is committed to accelerating the practical application of quantum computers from both hardware and software perspectives. Through its platform for hybrid quantum computing, Fujitsu will provide larger-scale quantum computers to global companies and research institutions conducting joint research in various fields, including finance and drug discovery.

Fujitsu and RIKEN will continue R&D efforts toward the launch of a 1,000-qubit computer, which is scheduled to be installed in a new building at Fujitsu Technology Park in 2026. In addition, the two organizations will extend the installation period of their Collaboration Center from March 2025 to March 2029, and will continue to work on the long-term R&D of technologies that will enable the realization of even larger superconducting quantum computers.

For more information: Fujitsu

Image: Newly developed 256-qubit superconducting quantum computer

Bringing powerful 3D X-ray microscopy to smaller labs

Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed a technique that allows the study of microstructures inside metals, ceramics, and rocks using X-rays in a standard laboratory, eliminating the need to travel to a particle accelerator. This advancement makes 3D X-ray diffraction (3DXRD) more accessible, enabling rapid analysis of samples and prototypes in both academic and industrial settings, and providing more opportunities for student involvement. 3DXRD works by reconstructing 3D images from X-rays taken at multiple angles, similar to a CT scan, but with the material sample rotating in front of a powerful beam that emits about a million times more X-rays than a medical X-ray.

The huge X-ray concentration produces a micro-scale image of the tiny fused crystals that make up most metals, ceramics and rocks, known as polycrystalline materials.

Results help researchers understand how materials react to mechanical stresses by measuring thousands of individual crystals’ volume, position, orientation and strain. For example, imaging a sample from a steel beam under compression can show how crystals respond to bearing the weight of a building, helping researchers understand large-scale wear.

Synchrotrons were once the only facilities able to produce enough X-rays for 3DXRD as electrons spit off scads of X-rays as they travel through circular particle accelerators, which can then be directed into a sample.

While synchrotron X-ray beams produce state-of-the-art detail, there are only about 70 facilities worldwide. Research teams must put together project proposals for “beam time.” Accepted projects often must wait six months to up to two years to run their experiments, which are limited to a maximum of six days.

In an effort to make this technique more widely available, the research team worked with PROTO Manufacturing to custom build the first laboratory-scale 3DXRD. As a whole, the instrument is about the size of a residential bathroom, but could be scaled down to the size of a broom closet.

“This technique gives us such interesting data that I wanted to create the opportunity to try new things that are high risk, high reward and allow teachable moments for students without the wait-time and pressure of synchrotron beam time,” said Ashley Bucsek, U-M assistant professor of mechanical engineering and materials science and engineering and co-corresponding author of the study published in Nature Communications.

Previously, small-scale devices could not produce enough X-rays for 3DXRD because at a certain point, the electron beam pumps so much power into the anode—the solid metal surface that the electrons strike to make X-rays—that it would melt. Lab-3DXRD leverages a liquid-metal-jet anode that is already liquid at room temperature, allowing it to take in more power and produce more X-rays than once possible at this scale.

The researchers put the design to the test by scanning the same titanium alloy sample using three methods: lab-3DXRD, synchrotron-3DXRD and laboratory diffraction contrast tomography or LabDCT—a technique used to map out crystal structures in 3D without strain information.

Lab-3DXRD was highly accurate, with 96% of the crystals it picked up overlapping with the other two methods. It did particularly well with larger crystals over 60 micrometers, but missed some of the smaller crystals. The researchers note that adding a more sensitive photon-counting detector, which detects the X-rays that are used to build the images, could help catch the finest-grained crystals.

With this technique available in-house, Bucsek’s research team can try new experiments, honing parameters to prepare for a larger experiment at a synchrotron.

“Lab-3DXRD is like a nice backyard telescope while synchrotron-3DXRD is the Hubble Telescope. There are still certain situations where you need the Hubble, but we are now well prepared for those big experiments because we can try everything out beforehand,” Bucsek said.

Beyond enabling more accessible experiments, lab-3DXRD allows researchers to extend projects past the synchrotron six day limit, which is particularly helpful when studying cyclic loading—how a material responds to repeated stresses over thousands of cycles.

For more information: The Michigan Center for Materials Characterization

Image: Members of Professor Ashley Bucsek’s lab group are able to use three-dimensional X-ray diffraction to study polycrystalline materials on campus, a technique previously only available in specialized synchrotron facilities. Left to right: Ashley Bucsek, Sangwon Lee, Wenxi Li, Abdulhamit Sarac, Janice Moya and Yuefeng Jin. Image credit: Marcin Szczepanski, Michigan Engineering

Bruker acquires electron microscopy company Nion

Bruker recently announced that it has acquired Nion, a privately-held company that develops and manufactures innovative high-end scanning transmission electron microscopes (STEM). Nion was the first company to introduce aberration correction for STEM instruments with ultra-high stability for highest resolution images, and Nion is the world leader in ultra-high energy and spatial resolution electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS). This acquisition enhances Bruker’s product offerings and technology portfolio in materials science research and provides the technology base for applications in electron diffraction crystallography. In 2023, Nion had approximately $8 million in revenue. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Located in Kirkland, WA, Nion was founded in 1997 by Dr. Ondrej Krivanek and Dr. Niklas Dellby. Under their leadership, Nion developed into a premier provider for high-end STEMs for researchers in materials science research worldwide.

“We are excited to add the high-end STEM products, the electron microscopy technology, and this new expertise of Nion to Bruker,” said Dr. Frank Burgaezy, the Bruker AXS division president. “Nion has unique products for the most demanding research applications in materials science electron microscopy, and Bruker will offer Nion global market reach as well as collaborations on new developments to enter new applications in electron diffraction crystallography based on Nion electron microscope and Bruker crystallography technologies.”

“With the introduction of aberration correction and ultra-high energy resolution EELS, Nion has revolutionized STEM technology. With our products we have established an excellent reputation among leading scientists around the globe as a provider of high-end STEM products,” added Dr. Ondrej Krivanek, co-founder of Nion. “Our work has given us unique insights into what researchers need. We are very gratified to join Bruker, an internationally esteemed instrumentation company, whose philosophy, culture, and reputation align very closely with our company culture and our research-oriented goals.”

For more information: Bruker

Plasma FIB services are now available

EAG Laboratories, Tempe, Ariz., announced a new addition to its wide range of advanced microscopy techniques – Plasma FIB (PFIB) services.

PFIB can be used for both material characterization and failure analysis.  It differs from traditional FIB as it uses various gases such as Xe, Ar, O, or N to generate a focused ion beam with much greater range of beam currents as compared to Ga.  With Plasma FIB capability, larger cuts can be prepared more efficiently, giving EAG Laboratories the ability to survey more material to find the root cause of a failure and reducing the time needed for an analysis.

Plasma FIB Benefits:

  • Higher currents and faster milling than conventional FIB
    • Capable of nm to mm scale cross-sectioning with site-specific cross-sectioning up to ~1mm
  • Gallium-free specific site sample preparation
    • TEM, SEM and APT
    • No intermetallic formation or Ga accumulation
  • Multiple ion species available (Xe, Ar, O, N)
  • Enables advanced characterization of Al containing materials and optoelectronics
    • SEM, TEM, EELS, EDS, EBIC, CL

Plasma FIB is an ideal choice for performing mm scale targeted cross-sections on a wide variety of materials such as metals, polymers, ceramics, semiconductors and composites.

 

 

Image – Cross-Sectioning Entire Commercial LED Ball Bond.

 

For more information:

Evans Analytical Group

https://www.eag.com/

Research brings new control over topological insulator

An international team of scientists investigating the electronic properties of ultra-thin films of new materials – topological insulators (TIs) – has demonstrated a new method to tune their unique properties using strain (“Tuning Dirac states by strain in the topological insulator Bi2Se3”).

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