The new youth of in situ electron microscopy

The idea of in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and its possible ramifications were proposed at the very dawn of electron microscopy, but the translation from theory to practice encountered many technological setbacks, which hindered the feasibility of the most elaborated approaches until recent times. However, the several technological improvements achieved in the last 10–15 years filled this gap, allowing the direct observation of the dynamic response of materials to external stimuli under a vast range of conditions going from vacuum to gaseous or liquid environment. This resulted in a blossoming of the in situ TEM and scanning TEM (STEM) techniques to a new youth for a vast, growing range of applications, which cannot be rightfully detailed in a short span; therefore, this chapter should be intended as a guide highlighting a selection of the most inspiring, recently achieved results.