Benchmarking analytical electron ptychography methods for the low-dose imaging of beam-sensitive materials

Abstract: This publication presents an investigation of the performance of different analytical electron ptychography methods for low-dose imaging. In particular, benchmarking is performed for two model-objects, monolayer MoS$_2$ and apoferritin, by means of multislice simulations. Specific attention is given to cases where the individual diffraction patterns remain sparse. After a first rigorous introduction to the theoretical foundations of the methods, an implementation based on the scan-frequency partitioning of calculation steps is described, permitting a significant reduction of memory needs and high sampling flexibility. By analyzing the role of contrast transfer and illumination conditions, this work provides insights into the trade-off between resolution, signal-to-noise ratio and probe focus, as is necessary for the optimization of practical experiments. Furthermore, important differences between the different methods are demonstrated. Overall, the results obtained for the two model-objects demonstrate that analytical ptychography is an attractive option for the low-dose imaging of beam-sensitive materials.