General framework for quantitative three-dimensional reconstruction from arbitrary detection geometries in TEM

In Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 245502 (2012), a method for retrieving the object's three-dimensional potential distribution by inverting the dynamical scattering was presented and validated by a reconstruction from simulated atomic resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images. In this paper, an extension to ptychography and scanning confocal electron microscopy is demonstrated and validated with simulations. Ultimately, this will make it possible to operate the microscope in the mode that yields the best reconstruction instead of accommodating the microscope settings to the linear approximation to the specimen-electron interaction used in most reconstruction algorithms. Furthermore, simultaneous estimation of the object and the unknown defocus from simulated atomic resolution TEM images is attained. This is an important step towards experimental reconstructions.