
Interim Facility Director, NCEM
510.486.4634
Biography
Peter Ercius graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in applied and engineering physics in 2003. He remained at Cornell and completed a Ph.D. in applied and engineering physics with Professor David A. Muller in 2009. His dissertation project focused on three-dimensional (3D) electron tomography of semiconductor devices using scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). He then joined the NCEM facility as a collaborative postdoctoral researcher for 2 years before being hired as a permanent Staff Scientist of the Molecular Foundry. Peter is currently in charge of the electron tomography program at NCEM and the dual aberration-corrected TEAM 0.5. Dr. Ercius is a leading expert in electron tomography and collaborates with users of the Molecular Foundry on a wide range of projects including S/TEM atomic resolution imaging, electron tomography, 4D-STEM scanning diffraction, in situ liquid TEM, electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), and automated experimentation.
Research Interests
Dr. Ercius utilizes the atomic resolution imaging capabilities of the TEAM I and TEAM 0.5 transmission electron microscopes for atomic resolution imaging and analysis of many nanoscale materials. He is a leading expert in 3D imaging and analysis of nanostructures with a focus on the application of electron lens aberration correction. He utilizes the TEAM microscopes and TEAM Stage at the NCEM facility to image nanoscale objects in 3D at atomic resolution. He also utilizes the high-resolution imaging capabilities coupled with liquid cells and direct electron detectors to study materials processes in liquid environments. His broad range of research interests include:
- 3D nanoscale and atomic electron tomography (AET)
- STEM and TEM aberration correction
- Atomic scale materials characterization
- In situ liquid TEM
- Electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS)
- Automated data acquisition
Selected Presentations and Lectures
- Guest Lecturer, “Ronchigrams” and “Taming the Data Fire Hose,” PARADIM 2021 Summer School on Electron Microscopy, Cornell University, NY, June 14 – 18, 2021 (presented remotely).
- Co-organizer and speaker, “International Workshop and Short Course on the Frontiers of Electron
- Tomography in the Physical Sciences,” Berkeley, CA, October 23-27, 2017.
- “Determining Atomic Coordinates in 3D by Atomic Electron Tomography,” Aberration Correction Focused Interest Group Workshop at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2017, St Louis, MI, August 6th, 2017.
- “Ronchigrams,”and “Electron Tomography Theory,” PARADIM 2017 Summer School on Electron Microscopy, Cornell University, NY, June 18-21, 2017.
- “Advanced Tomography I and II,” V Theoretical-Practical TEM School, Brazilian Nanotechnology National Laboratory, Campinas, Brazil, January 15th – 16th, 2014.
- “Imaging Atoms in 3-D,” Science at the Theater: Eight Big Ideas, Berkeley, CA, October 31, 2013.