Xu, C.S. et al. Elife http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.25916 (2017).

Focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM) offers high axial resolution while maintaining image registration. However, the technology has so far been limited to relatively small samples, as the imaging process destroys the sample, and system errors or disruptions lead to low image quality or data loss. Xu et al. have tweaked several components of the FIB-SEM system, and together their changes amount to a substantial improvement in system stability. These modifications allow an increase in imaging speed as well as better recovery from interruptions, translating into larger imaging volumes or higher-resolution data sets. The researchers demonstrated their system by imaging large chunks of mammalian or Drosophila brain as well as by acquiring a high-resolution data set for the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.