APPLICATION OF IMAGING PLATES TO HIGH-RESOLUTION HIGH-VOLTAGE ELECTRON-MICROSCOPY

HRTEM images of an irradiation-sensitive YBCO crystal were taken by us ing an IP with a pixel size of 25 mu m, in an HVEM operated with an ac celerating voltage of 800 kV, under different operating conditions. It is found that, as far as the expected resolution is 0.20 mn, the opti mum operating condition of the IPs is what is expected from the viewpo int of DQE and S/N ratio; HRTEM images can be taken with the intensity which is lower by two orders than that necessary for a conventional f ilm, without any irradiation damage. The decay rate of information aft er the exposure to the electron beam has also been measured and it is found that very immediate processing of the IP right after the exposur e should be avoided for measuring HRTEM image intensity quantitatively .