Berkeley Lab Breakthrough Unlocks Atomic Nanocrystal Details

New microscopy technique allows scientists to analyze individual nanocrystals previously considered unusable for crystallography.

Published on Mar. 4, 2026

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Berkeley Lab scientists have developed a new approach that can determine atomic structures from nanocrystals previously considered unusable for crystallography. By combining 4D-STEM with computational "virtual apertures," the team can isolate and analyze individual nanocrystals embedded within dense clusters - without requiring large, pristine samples. This breakthrough could transform how researchers study materials too small or imperfect for conventional crystallography.

Why it matters

Crystalline materials have enabled advances in computing, communications, energy technologies, and pharmaceuticals, but many important materials refuse to grow into the large, pristine single crystals required for traditional crystallography techniques like X-ray diffraction. This new approach allows scientists to study atomic structures of nanocrystalline materials that were previously inaccessible, which could lead to breakthroughs in developing new materials for a wide range of applications.

The details

The team's approach uses 4D-STEM (four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy) to shrink the electron beam down to just a few nanometers and raster-scan it across the sample, recording an independent diffraction pattern at each probe position. They then use computational "virtual apertures" to selectively analyze the best parts of the sample, isolating individual nanocrystals within a conglomerate or even targeting specific subregions within a single nanocrystal. This allows them to solve atomic structures from tiny, handpicked specimens that would be unusable with standard physical apertures.

  • The study was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) in March 2026.

The players

Peter Ercius

Staff scientist at the Molecular Foundry's National Center for Electron Microscopy (NCEM) facility at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Ambarneil Saha

Postdoctoral fellow at the National Center for Electron Microscopy (NCEM) facility at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Omar Yaghi

Berkeley Lab affiliate who shared the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs).

Perlmutter

The supercomputer at Berkeley Lab's National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) that was used to process the massive datasets generated by the 4D Camera.

TEAM 0.5

The electron microscope at the Molecular Foundry's National Center for Electron Microscopy (NCEM) facility that was used in this research.

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What they’re saying

“Our technique allows us to selectively mine data from the best areas of a nanoscale sample, which is a game changer for crystallography.”

— Peter Ercius, Staff scientist at the Molecular Foundry's National Center for Electron Microscopy (NCEM) facility (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)

“Nanoscale virtual apertures give us the power to selectively pick the best parts and discard the defective parts, pixel by pixel. As a crystallographer, that's a dream come true. Not only can we salvage specimens intractable with standard physical apertures, but we can also solve atomic structures from tiny, handpicked subregions within those specimens.”

— Ambarneil Saha, Postdoctoral fellow at the National Center for Electron Microscopy (NCEM) facility (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)

What’s next

The researchers hope to further develop 4D-STEM into a technique capable of solving single-crystal structures at even smaller length scales, targeting populations of unit cells historically inaccessible to crystallography.

The takeaway

This breakthrough in microscopy and computational techniques could transform how researchers study materials that are too small or imperfect for conventional crystallography, unlocking new insights into the atomic structures of nanocrystalline materials with potential applications across fields like energy, health, and environmental technologies.