EBEAM succeeded among proposals submitted for FET Proactive Emerging Paradigms and Communities call (FETPROACT-EIC-07-2020), in subtopic D: Measuring the Unmeasurable - Sub-nanoscale science for Nanometrology. 

The project aims to enhance technology for electron microscopy (EM), a crucial and highly useful analytic technique behind many of recent scientific and technological breakthroughs, as the scale of EM resolution reveals atomic structures and chemical composition of materials. Contrary to a classical optical microscope, which uses beam of light and therefore its resolution is limited by the wavelength of photons, an electron microscope offers ultrahigh resolution, as it uses a beam of accelerated electrons which has a much smaller wavelength. Therefore, electron microscopes can detect smaller structures and provide more detailed images.

Nevertheless, even EM technology has its limits, namely when it comes to temporal resolution, energy resolution, and energy range. EBEAM wants to surpass the state-of-the-art in these areas by merging the most recent approaches in the field of analytical microscopy. The project team specifies their aim in the project proposal:

“Our ambition is to demonstrate <20 fs time resolution and <1 meV energy resolution, and to open up the 4-400 neV (1-100 MHz) energy range, all inaccessible in EM so far. Using new correlation and coincidence modalities that have never been used in EM before, we will unveil new methods to probe selection rules, low-energy band structures, trace elements, and more.”

The EBEAM project will demonstrate the broad applicability of the new EBEAM techniques by carrying out selected research projects that target key questions in energy conversion materials, opto-electronic materials, and quantum technology.

EBEAM is a 63-month project, which starts in January 2021. It brings together a proven consortium of experts in electron microscopy from the Netherlands (with Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research being the coordinating institution), Spain, France, Germany and Belgium. 

Prof. Albert Polman, of NWO-institute AMOLF and EBEAM grant coordination leader, expressed excitement about this expansive new research effort: “Increasing temporal and energy resolution opens up a fantastic array of both fundamental and applied research directions for electron microscopy, including phonon studies, quantum optics, electron wavefront shaping, and many more.  Our multi-national consortium is very much looking forward to advancing Europe’s, and the world’s, electron microscopy capabilities over the coming months.”

Background information
FET-Open and FET Proactive are now part of the Enhanced European Innovation Council (EIC) Pilot (specifically the Pathfinder), the new home for deep-tech research and innovation in Horizon 2020, the EU funding programme for research and innovation.