Today, atomic-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) coupled with monochromated electron sources is one of the most essential tools for characterizing two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides when site-specific chemical or structural detail is required. The microscopic data plays a crucial role in guiding the synthesis process and understanding the electronic properties. Following the successful implementation of ultra-stable lenses in the context of aberration correction, the optical performance of a modern high-resolution TEM poses hardly a limitation anymore for the structural detail information to be obtained. Contrary to the advances in optical resolution the preservation of the material in its native context and state emerges to be the major challenge. Ultimately, the limitations to the collection of high-detail information on the atomic scale are given by the dose budget available. <br/>In this contribution, featured examples will be given for the detailed structural elucidation and near-field spectroscopy of excitonic absorption of  2D TMDC heterostructures and misfit layer compound nanotubes.  Current advancements to maintain structural integrity and minimize radiation damage are based on maximizing detection efficiency by employing highly sensitive and noise-free image and diffraction detectors. In conjunction with high-duty cycles, such detectors help take advantage of each electron's information hitting the sample, for imaging and spectroscopy. Highlighted will be our recent development of fast and efficient phase retrieval tested on purely organic thin films and applied to TMDCs.

Challenges and new directions for atomic-resolution structural and spectroscopic studies of 2D TMDCs in the TEM

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