A fast image simulation technique for high resolution electron microscopy with multicomponent atomic species.

A new method has been developed for simulating high resolution electron microscope images of weak phase objects via a digital television frame store system and fast Fourier transforms of a graphical representation of structures containing several atomic species. Here masks are constructed which consist of circular disk regions whose areas are proportional to the scattering power of the different atom types. These masks represent the object transmission function. The method extends the previous work on image computations of monatomic species objects using small point-like model representations of atom positions. Several examples will be given to verify the relative scattering power from masks corresponding to different atomic species such as Y, Ba, Cu, and O, as well as the limitations of this method for representing objects. Image simulations, which are in agreement with experiments, will also be presented for superconducting oxide materials of the form YBa2Cu3O7 using the circular disk method.