Electron Crystallography – microED

A crystallographer by education, Dr. Lukáš Palatinus has for a long time been driving developments regarding crystallographic software and diffraction methods, with a particular focus on electron diffraction. Dr. Palatinus studied mineralogy and geochemistry at Charles University in Prague. Since 2009, he is the head of the group of electron crystallography at the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague, which develops methods for crystal structure analysis from electron diffraction data, with a focus on structure refinement from 3D electron diffraction tomography data using the dynamical diffraction theory.


Abstract The lecture will be focused on the theory and practice of 3D electron diffraction (3D ED) – a crystallographic technique allowing structure analysis from single submicrometric crystals. Born almost two decades ago, this technique is now going through a phase of explosive development. Some eight years ago its general applicability and achievable accuracy were still a matter of debate. Five years ago, the first reports showing reliable localization of hydrogen atoms by 3D ED appeared, and refinements with figures of merit approaching those of X-ray diffraction became possible. Today, observation of hydrogens and other structural details is considered routine, and advanced applications like charge density analysis from 3D ED data are appearing. The lectures will give an overview of this development and they will be especially focused on the possibilities 3D ED offers today in literally all areas of structural crystallography with examples from hydrated materials, MOFs and complex organic