Throughput and Resolution with a Next Generation Direct Electron Detector

Direct electron detectors (DEDs) have revolutionized cryo-electron microscopy by facilitating correction of beam-induced motion and radiation damage and by providing high-resolution image capture. A new generation of DEDs has been developed by Direct Electron, the DE64, that has good performance in both integrating and counting modes. Integrating mode is superior in throughput while counting mode is superior in image quality. We show that despite being ~10x slower in throughput, counting mode is superior in terms of reconstruction resolution per unit time of data collection.