Realizing smart scanning transmission electron microscopy using high performance computing

• Published in: Review of scientific instruments Vol. 95; no. 10
• Main Authors: Pratiush, Utkarsh, Houston, Austin, Kalinin, Sergei V., Duscher, Gerd
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Institute of Physics 01.10.2024
• Subjects: Algorithms; Computation; Electron energy loss spectroscopy; High performance computing; Image filters; Machine learning; Python; Scanning electron microscopy; Scanning transmission electron microscopy; Transmission electron microscopy
• ISSN: 0034-6748; 1089-7623; 1089-7623
• DOI: 10.1063/5.0225401

Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM) coupled with Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy (EELS) presents a powerful platform for detailed material characterization via rich imaging and spectroscopic data. Modern electron microscopes can access multiple length scales and sampling rates far beyond human perception and reaction time. Recent advancements in machine learning (ML) offer a promising avenue to enhance these capabilities by integrating ML algorithms into the STEM-EELS framework, fostering an environment of active learning. This work enables the seamless integration of STEM with High-Performance Computing (HPC) systems. This integration is facilitated by our developed server software, written in Python, which acts as a wrapper over DigitalMicrograph (version 3.5) hardware modules to enable remote computer interactions. We present several implemented workflows that exemplify this integration. These workflows include sophisticated techniques such as object finding and deep kernel learning. Through these developments, we demonstrate how the fusion of STEM-EELS with ML and HPC enhances the efficiency and scope of material characterization for all of STEM available globally having Gatan, Inc. image filter installed on them. The codes are available on GitHub.