Chapter 2
STEM Tomography in Biology
Sharon Grayer Wolf, Eyal Shimoni, Michael Elbaum
and Lothar Houben
Abstract STEM modality provides major advantages for electron tomography of
thicker (>300 nm) biological specimens, both for plastic-embedded, heavy-metal
stained samples, and for vitrified, unstained cells. With the proliferation of modern
TEM microscopes that allow for switching between TEM and STEM modes with
relative ease, we expect the use of STEM tomography to increase. The concepts for
STEM imaging are significantly different than for TEM, and therefore we will
describe in detail the STEM imaging modality, followed by STEM tomography
concepts and applications.
2.1 Introduction
The foundations for atomic-scale scanning-transmission electron microscope
(STEM) imaging were developed by Albert Crewe’s team in the 1960s [1–3].
Ironically, though subsequent dominance of STEM imaging has been in the materials
sciences, Crewe’s keen interest at the time was in analysis and imaging of biological
specimens [4, 5]. It was recognized that favorable and quantifiable contrast could be
obtained with STEM for unstained biological cells, and indeed the elemental composition of such specimens could be probed by electron energy-loss spectroscopy
S. G. Wolf (&) Á E. Shimoni Á L. Houben
Electron Microscopy Unit, Department of Chemical Research Support,
Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
e-mail: Sharon.Wolf@weizmann.ac.il
E. Shimoni
e-mail: eyal.shimoni@weizmann.ac.il
L. Houben
e-mail: lothar.houben@weizmann.ac.il
M. Elbaum
Department of Materials and Interfaces, Weizmann Institute of Science,
Rehovot, Israel
e-mail: michael.elbaum@weizmann.ac.il
© Springer International Publishing AG 2018
E. Hanssen (ed.), Cellular Imaging, Biological and Medical Physics,
Biomedical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68997-5_2
33
STEM Tomography in Biology
Sharon Grayer Wolf, Eyal Shimoni, Michael Elbaum
and Lothar Houben
Abstract STEM modality provides major advantages for electron tomography of
thicker (>300 nm) biological specimens, both for plastic-embedded, heavy-metal
stained samples, and for vitrified, unstained cells. With the proliferation of modern
TEM microscopes that allow for switching between TEM and STEM modes with
relative ease, we expect the use of STEM tomography to increase. The concepts for
STEM imaging are significantly different than for TEM, and therefore we will
describe in detail the STEM imaging modality, followed by STEM tomography
concepts and applications.
2.1 Introduction
The foundations for atomic-scale scanning-transmission electron microscope
(STEM) imaging were developed by Albert Crewe’s team in the 1960s [1–3].
Ironically, though subsequent dominance of STEM imaging has been in the materials
sciences, Crewe’s keen interest at the time was in analysis and imaging of biological
specimens [4, 5]. It was recognized that favorable and quantifiable contrast could be
obtained with STEM for unstained biological cells, and indeed the elemental composition of such specimens could be probed by electron energy-loss spectroscopy
S. G. Wolf (&) Á E. Shimoni Á L. Houben
Electron Microscopy Unit, Department of Chemical Research Support,
Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
e-mail: Sharon.Wolf@weizmann.ac.il
E. Shimoni
e-mail: eyal.shimoni@weizmann.ac.il
L. Houben
e-mail: lothar.houben@weizmann.ac.il
M. Elbaum
Department of Materials and Interfaces, Weizmann Institute of Science,
Rehovot, Israel
e-mail: michael.elbaum@weizmann.ac.il
© Springer International Publishing AG 2018
E. Hanssen (ed.), Cellular Imaging, Biological and Medical Physics,
Biomedical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68997-5_2
33