China develops intelligent transmission electron microscope

A Chinese research team has developed an intelligent transmission electron microscope (TEM) capable of autonomous operation, marking a breakthrough in the smart application of high-end scientific instruments.

The device, named Yuanyan-1, was developed by researchers at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of Chinese Academy of Sciences. According to the team, the amount of data generated by the system in just two weeks is equivalent to roughly one year of work using traditional TEMs.

As scientific research moves deeper into the microscopic world, transmission electron microscopes have become one of the key tools for studying advanced materials, energy and chemical engineering, and life sciences. However, for nearly a century, TEM systems have relied heavily on manual operation, facing limitations such as low efficiency, strong operator dependence and difficulties in quantitative analysis.

To achieve intelligent operation, researchers overcame five major technical challenges, including high-vacuum sample transfer, autonomous adjustment of electron optical imaging, intelligent nanoscale sample positioning, automated image acquisition and real-time analysis, as well as full-system status perception and coordinated scheduling.

The newly developed system enables a fully automated workflow covering sample transfer, imaging and data analysis.

In practical applications, the microscope has demonstrated major efficiency gains. In catalyst microstructure analysis, for example, Yuanyan-1 can analyze 200 samples and capture 5,000 images in a single day. It can also quantitatively analyze 500,000 particles and automatically generate professional reports containing detailed statistical information such as particle size, dispersion and crystal structure.

Researchers said the image acquisition speed is about 56 times faster than that of conventional transmission electron microscopes, while analysis efficiency is roughly 300 times higher than manual operation.

The team said the breakthrough represents a shift from traditional manually operated electron microscopy to fully AI-driven autonomous operation. The technology is expected to provide large-scale, high-quality structural data for fields including energy chemistry, materials genomics and life sciences, supporting the growing use of artificial intelligence in scientific research.