Knowing the three-dimensional structural information of materials at the nanometer scale is essential to understanding complex material properties. Electron tomography retrieves three-dimensional structural information using a tilt series of two-dimensional images. In this paper, we report an alternative combination of electron ptychography with the inverse multislice method. We demonstrate depth sectioning of a nanostructured material into slices with 0.34 nm lateral resolution and with a corresponding depth resolution of about 24–30 nm. This three-dimensional imaging method has potential applications for the three-dimensional structure determination of a range of objects, ranging from inorganic nanostructures to biological macromolecules.

Nature Communications 8, Article number: 163 (2017)
doi:10.1038/s41467-017-00150-1

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-00150-1