Improving image quality by zero-loss energy filtering: quantitative assessment by means of image cross-correlation

Fourier ring correlation and root-mean-square contrast of pairs of images, taken under identical conditions, were used as criteria of image quality for comparing unfiltered with zero-loss energy-filtered imaging using a TEM equipped with a post-column energy filter. For three different specimens (amorphous carbon film, macromolecules in light negative stain, virus particles in deep negative stain) the dependence of these quantities on electron dose, specimen thickness and defocus was investigated. A model, based on simple assumptions, was used to describe quantitatively their dependence on electron dose and specimen thickness. It was found that energy filtering is most advantageous for low-dose imaging and small defocus values. The gain due to energy filtering strongly increases with specimen thickness, whereby the dependence is linear for light scattering elements. For thick specimens, the gain by energy filtering is more pronounced in the resolution range between 4 and 2 nm than for lower spatial frequencies.