Chapter Two - Transmission Electron Microscopy: Emerging Investigations for Cultural Heritage Materials

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), with its various imaging modes and analytical abilities, is now an indispensable tool for chemical and structural characterization at the nanoscale of all types of materials. Cultural heritage materials do not differ fundamentally from other materials except that they are more heterogeneous, with a more complex and imperfect structure. In addition, many of them contain nanoparticles or have a nanoscale structuration, which plays a significant role in their physical properties or is rich in information concerning their manufacture. TEM techniques are thus well suited to investigate them, especially because the developments of these last decades afford both a more efficient sample preparation and faster data recording.