in situ Åtomic Imaging

Our lab develops in situ cryogenic electron microscopy and in situ capabilities to visualize, understand and manipulate quantum materials at the atomic scale. We are located at the Rowland Institute at Harvard in Cambridge, MA.

Rowland

UPDATE

In January 2026, the lab will move to the Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute and Department of Physics & Astronomy at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Positions will be available for post-doctoral scientists and current UBC graduate students. Prospective graduate students should first apply to the MSc program at UBC and, if admitted, contact Prof. El Baggari to explore positions.

physics

qmi

Latest Posts

Variable temperature cryogenic STEM reveals charge order melting in new publication

A cryogenic scanning transmission electron microscope reveals the atomic-scale mechanism that disrupts the charge-ordered state in a manganite material. The visualizations were performed at the atomic scale and across variable temperatures. This work by Noah Schnitzer was published in Physical Review X.

Higher resolution in a second prototype liquid helium holder

Following initial demonstration of a novel liquid helium flow cryogenic TEM holder in 2023, our team assembled subsequent prototypes that have shown sub-Angstrom HRTEM imaging, low sample drift (less than 0.4 Angstrom per second), and low millikelvin-level temperature fluctuations.

Variable temperature cryogenic STEM shown by Noah from Cornell

Noah Schnitzer (Cornell) et al demonstrate the use of a cryogenic MEMS-based system that achieves intermediate cryogenic temperature. This allows for the first time atomic-resolution STEM imaging and picometer precision mapping as a function of temperature, a key capability for understanding the evolution of order. Even more impressive, the results here show that we can track order in the exact same field of view across temperature, registered unit cell to unit cell. This allows tracking of topological defects in charge order and how they lead to melting of order. Read the pre-print here.