Design and Applications of Environmental Cell Transmission Electron Microscope for In Situ Observations of Gas–Solid Reactions

2001 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 494-506 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renu Sharma

AbstractThe environmental transmission electron microscopy (E-TEM) is a budding technique for in situ study of gas–solid chemical reactions with numerous applications. Recent improvements in the design have made it possible not only to obtain atomic level information but also the chemical information during the reaction by incorporating an imaging filter or electron energy-loss spectrometer to an E-TEM. We have been involved in modifying a couple of microscopes to incorporate environmental cells in order to convert them into E-TEMs. These microscopes have been used to obtain atomic level information of the structural and chemical changes during dynamic processes by in situ electron diffraction, high-resolution imaging, and electron energyloss spectroscopy. The applications include, but are not limited to, oxidation, reduction, polymerization, nitridation, dehydroxylation, hydroxylation, chemical vapor deposition, etc. We report recent developments in the design and application along with the limitations of an E-TEM.

Author(s):  
T. Dewolf ◽  
D. Cooper ◽  
N. Bernier ◽  
V. Delaye ◽  
A. Grenier ◽  
...  

Abstract Forming and breaking a nanometer-sized conductive area are commonly accepted as the physical phenomenon involved in the switching mechanism of oxide resistive random access memories (OxRRAM). This study investigates a state-of-the-art OxRRAM device by in-situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Combining high spatial resolution obtained with a very small probe scanned over the area of interest of the sample and chemical analyses with electron energy loss spectroscopy, the local chemical state of the device can be compared before and after applying an electrical bias. This in-situ approach allows simultaneous TEM observation and memory cell operation. After the in-situ forming, a filamentary migration of titanium within the dielectric hafnium dioxide layer has been evidenced. This migration may be at the origin of the conductive path responsible for the low and high resistive states of the memory.


2008 ◽  
Vol 1142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hideto Yoshida ◽  
Seiji Takeda ◽  
Tetsuya Uchiyama ◽  
Hideo Kohno ◽  
Yoshikazu Homma

ABSTRACTNucleation and growth processes of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in iron catalyzed chemical vapor deposition (CVD) have been observed by means of in-situ environmental transmission electron microscopy. Our atomic scale observations demonstrate that solid state iron carbide (Fe3C) nanoparticles act as catalyst for the CVD growth of CNTs. Iron carbide nanoparticles are structurally fluctuated in CVD condition. Growth of CNTs can be simply explained by bulk diffusion of carbon atoms since nanoparticles are carbide.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feng Yang ◽  
Haofei Zhao ◽  
Wu Wang ◽  
Qidong Liu ◽  
Xu Liu ◽  
...  

Abstract When carbon-containing species are involved in reactions catalyzed by transition metals at high temperature, the diffusion of carbon on/in catalysts dramatically influence the catalytic performance. Acquiring information on the carbon-diffusion-involved evolution of catalysts at atomic level is crucial for understanding the reaction mechanism yet also challenging. For the chemical vapor deposition process of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), we developed methodologies to record in-situ the near-surface structural and chemical evolution of Co catalysts with carbon permeation using an aberration-corrected environmental transmission electron microscope and the synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The nucleation and growth of SWCNTs were linked with the partial carbonization of catalysts and the alternating dissolvement-precipitation of carbon in catalysts. The dynamics of carbon atoms in catalysts brings deeper insight into the growth mechanism of SWCNTs and also sheds light on inferring mechanisms of more reactions. The methodologies developed here will find broad applications in studying catalytic and other processes.


1995 ◽  
Vol 404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kalpana S Katti ◽  
Maoxu Qian ◽  
Mehmet Sarikaya

AbstractIn this work a transmission electron microscopy (TEM) technique was used in obtaining local dielectric properties calculated from optical parameters for dynamic investigation of the effect of cubic to tetragonal phase transformation in barium titanate. In order to obtain in situ local dielectric during phase transformation, Kramers-Kronig relations were applied using the transmission electron energy loss (EELS) measurements. The optical excitations in the EELS spectra were consistent with the band structure results. The Re (1/ε) (real part of the dielectric function) obtained from the energy loss data indicated a change at the phase transformation. A broadening of the valence plasmon excitation suggested an order-disorder nature to the cubic to tetragonal transformation. In situ electron energy loss near edge structure (ELNES) studies from 500–700 eV energy range near the O-K edge exhibited a pre-edge feature that is associated with the Ti-L1, edge which further indicates an order-disorder nature to the phase transformation. The significance of the results is discussed.


1991 ◽  
Vol 235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yung-Jen Lin ◽  
Ming-Deng Shieh ◽  
Chiapying Lee ◽  
Tri-Rung Yew

ABSTRACTSilicon epitaxial growth on silicon wafers were investigated by using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition from SiH4/He/H2. The epitaxial layers were growm at temperatures of 350°C or lower. The base pressure of the chamber was greater than 2 × 10−5 Torr. Prior to epitaxial growth, the wafer was in-situ cleaned by H2 baking for 30 min. The epi/substrate interface and epitaxial layers were observed by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (XTEM). Finally, the influence of the ex-situ and in-situ cleaning processes on the qualities of the interface and epitaxial layers was discussed in detail.


2001 ◽  
Vol 706 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tadashi Mitsui ◽  
Takashi Sekiguchi ◽  
Mikka Nishitani-Gamo ◽  
Yafei Zhang ◽  
Toshihiro Ando

AbstractEffects of hydrogen sulfide on the structure of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were studied using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). The CNTs were synthesized with an iron thin-film catalyst by microwave plasma-assisted CVD on the diamond substrate. The HRTEM images revealed that essentially all of the CNTs obtained in this study were multiwall (MWCNT). The addition of H2S resulted in nanotubes with split skins as cornhusks and/or frills. Electron energy loss spectra of the cornhusks indicated that they consist of sp2, sp3 and amorphous carbon phase. The spectra revealed that the sp3 to sp2 ratio at the points where cornhusks divide from the main stem was more than that at the edge of the cornhusks. No evidence of sulfur incorporation into the MWCNTs grown with the H2S addition was found. We speculate that the chemical nature of sulfur on the CNT growth yields such anomalous structure.


1991 ◽  
Vol 236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yung-Jen Lin ◽  
Ming-Deng Shieh ◽  
Chiapying Lee ◽  
Tri-Rung Yew

AbstractSilicon epitaxial growth on silicon wafers were investigated by using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition from SiH4/He/H2. The epitaxial layers were growm at temperatures of 350°C or lower. The base pressure of the chamber was greater than 2 × 10−5 Torr. Prior to epitaxial growth, the wafer was in-situ cleaned by H2 baking for 30 min. The epi/substrate interface and epitaxial layers were observed by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (XTEM). Finally, the influence of the ex-situ and in-situ cleaning processes on the qualities of the interface and epitaxial layers was discussed in detail.


MRS Bulletin ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haimei Zheng

AbstractThe development of liquid cells for transmission electron microscopy has enabled breakthroughs in our ability to follow nanoscale structural, morphological, or chemical changes during materials growth and applications. Time-resolved high-resolution imaging and chemical analysis through liquids opened the opportunity to capture nanoscale dynamic processes of materials, including reaction intermediates and the transformation pathways. In this article, a series of work is highlighted with topics ranging from liquid cell developments to in situ studies of nanocrystal growth and transformations, dendrite formation, and suppression of lithium dendrites through in situ characterization of the solid–electrolyte interphase chemistry. The understanding garnered is expected to accelerate the discovery of novel materials for applications in energy storage, catalysis, sensors, and other functional devices.


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