Vision of HyperScaleEM
Electron microscopy is essential to understanding structure-property-function relationships in modern materials engineering, condensed matter physics, chemistry, and structural biology. Yet, due to complicated scattering physics, today’s electron microscopes can only image tiny volumes with 3D atomic resolution. Within this project, we will turn the tables by utilizing and inverting the scattering physics to image scale-bridging volumes with atomic detail and chemical superresolution. Combining compressive data-acquisition protocols, state-of-the-art electron optics and detectors, and co-designed computational imaging algorithms will make this possible.
What we’re building
HyperScaleEM is building the microscopy workflow that doesn’t exist yet: an automated pipeline that can image hundreds of nanometres across with atomic-level resolution and chemical composition — in 3D, at the speed of a modern electron microscope, without human intervention at every step.
The core challenge isn’t the hardware — it’s that the computational methods required to reconstruct this data are too slow, too brittle, and too manual. We solve this by designing physics-informed AI that learns the microscope’s forward model and inverts it at scale, combined with closed-loop acquisition that decides where to measure next based on what it’s already seen.
What this enables: A biologist studying a virus particle, a battery engineer characterising a dendrite, or a chemist imaging a catalyst — all getting the same quality of 3D atomic structure data that today only a handful of world-leading centres can produce, in hours not weeks.
Project roadmap
| Milestone | Target | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 3D atomic resolution in volumes >10nm | 2023–2024 | ✅ Achieved — Multi-slice electron ptychographic tomography for three-dimensional phase-contrast microscopy beyond the depth of focus limits, arXiv:2512.19460 |
| Scale-bridging imaging pipeline | 2025 - 2027 | 🔬 In progress — Progress |
| Automated 3D chemical mapping across volumes | 2026 - 2028 | 🔬 Ramping up |
| In-situ dynamics capture with autonomous acquisition | 2027–2029 | 🔬 Ramping up |
| Cross-scale integration: atomic-to-nanometre bridging | 2028–2030 | 🔬 Ramping up |
Team & open positions
HyperScaleEM is led by Prof. Philipp Pelz (PI) and a multidisciplinary team of postdoctoral researchers, PhD students, and visiting collaborators. The project is integrated with the broader ECLIPSE Lab and the CENEM Centre for Nanoanalysis at FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg.
Open positions funded through HyperScaleEM are advertised on the ECLIPSE Lab Opportunities page. We actively encourage applications from candidates with backgrounds in physics, materials science, computer science, or applied mathematics.
Interested in collaboration? Contact the lab →