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Enable High-Precision 4D-STEM Measurements with Beam Precession

Use Tescan TENSOR™ with real-time precession and a hybrid-pixel detector to deliver precise, reproducible 4D-STEM diffraction data in complex nanoscale devices.

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Overcome 4D-STEM Challenges with Tescan TENSOR™

Conventional 4D-STEM workflows are hindered by dynamical scattering, sample misalignment, and long acquisition times. This limits throughput and reduces accuracy and precision of strain and phase-orientation studies.

Tescan TENSOR™ was designed specifically for fast and interactive sample characterization by both conventional analytical STEM and precession-assisted electron diffraction. By combining beam precession and direct electron detection of electron diffraction data with hybrid-pixel detector technology, it delivers robust crystallographic mapping across modern materials, thin polycrystalline films, nanoparticles, and semiconductor devices.

How Tescan TENSOR improves the accuracy and precision of 4D-STEM measurements

such as Phase-Orientation Mapping and Strain Analysis

01
Root of the Problem

Why Conventional STEM Workflows Fall Short for Modern Materials

Advanced and functional materials require more than conventional STEM imaging and EDS mapping. Understanding atomic structure, crystallinity, and phase is essential for development and production, yet traditional TEM/STEM systems face critical limitations when equipped for 4D-STEM.

Instability and misalignments in EM optics reduce reproducibility of measurements. Dynamical scattering compromises accuracy and precision in diffraction analysis. Slow beam precession limits acquisition speed and throughput, resulting in batch data collection protocols and time-consuming post-processing procedures.

These bottlenecks make diffraction mapping workflows inefficient and difficult to scale — despite their value for revealing material structural and functional properties over large areas at nanometer resolution.

Tescan TENSOR™ was designed to overcome these challenges with a system built specifically for advanced analytical STEM with fully integrated and synchronized beam precession.

02
Materials and Methods

How Precession-Enhanced 4D-STEM Was Performed Using Tescan TENSOR™

The Tescan TENSOR™ system was purpose-built as a dedicated analytical STEM platform, with optics, scanning, and detectors optimized for fast diffraction analysis. A proprietary in-built system for beam precession was integrated into the TENSOR system to improve diffraction uniformity and reduce dynamical effects in electron diffraction datasets.

Diffraction patterns were recorded using the DECTRIS QUADRO hybrid-pixel detector, providing single-electron sensitivity and noise-free readout. Complete synchronization of beam scanning, blanking, precession, and detector readout ensured naturally correlative multimodal datasets.

Explore™ software provided integrated control of acquisition, pattern recognition, and mapping, eliminating the need for external data export and post-processing. This workflow enabled robust, high-precision 4D-STEM measurements suitable for strain, orientation, and phase analysis in advanced materials.

03
Results and Discussion

High-Precision 4D-STEM Strain and Orientation Mapping with Tescan TENSOR™

Tescan TENSOR™ demonstrated reliable precession-assisted 4D-STEM workflows for advanced materials. Automated optics alignment assured superior data quality while beam precession minimized dynamical scattering effects producing diffraction patterns with uniform intensity and improved accuracy for crystallographic analysis.

Using the DECTRIS QUADRO detector, datasets were acquired with single-electron sensitivity and no readout noise. Results showed enhanced reproducibility across users, with default acquisition parameters optimized for each measurement. Real-time processing allowed immediate feedback, enabling users to adjust regions of interest or acquisition settings on the fly.

Comparisons with traditional systems confirmed significant efficiency gains: strain maps that typically require an hour could be completed within 15 minutes on TENSOR. This efficiency, combined with consistent data quality, establishes TENSOR as a dependable platform for high-throughput strain, orientation, and phase mapping in modern materials research. 

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Tescan Instruments & Technology

Used in This Workflow

Tescan TENSOR with Integrated DECTRIS QUADRO

Tescan TENSOR™ is a dedicated analytical STEM platform designed for precession-assisted 4D-STEM workflows in advanced materials research.

It integrates fast beam precession with the DECTRIS QUADRO hybrid-pixel direct detector to deliver high-quality diffraction data with improved accuracy and precision.

You can perform robust crystallographic mapping, strain analysis, and phase-orientation studies with confidence, using synchronized optics, detectors, and software that ensure reproducible results in real time.

  • Fully synchronized STEM architecture: aligns beam scanning, precession, and detector readout for reliable datasets
  • DECTRIS QUADRO detector: combines single-electron sensitivity with a wide dynamic range
  • Beam precession module: improves diffraction symmetry and reduces dynamical scattering effects
  • Explore™ software: integrates acquisition, mapping, and real time data analysis without external post-processing
TENSOR_1

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Where can you find us:

Tescan Brno
Libušina třída 21
623 00 Brno
Czech Republic

info@Tescan.com 

130405923 us US 37.09024 -95.712891 25.3575 29.349345 20.67957527 42.082797 39.91384763 -33.693421 13.93320106 3.039986586 31.997988 38.050985 47.579533 48.1485965 58.375799 54.663142 19.195447 56.975106 50.493053 45.868592 10.79556993 44.35660598 43.2371604 55.536415 14.557577179752773 32.100937 -6.116829 -6.212299277967318 23.7104 -33.471062 31.998740087 -23.69149395 43.462349 51.529848 49.1893523 49.197486 25.072375 31.075811 1.299027 40.676979 52.30150662 51.013813 35.684121 37.479653 52.246622 40.581349 39.911632 -26.1811371 41.818215 33.429928

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