Induced spinodal decomposition under electron irradiation in a Ni-Au alloy has been investigated with respect to its basic mechanism and confirmed to be caused by the relaxation of coherent strain associated with modulated structure. Modulation of white-dots on structure images of modulated structure due to high-resolution electron microscopy is reduced with irradiation. In this paper the atom arrangement of the modulated structure is confirmed with computer simulation on the structure images, and the relaxation of the coherent strain is concluded to be due to the reduction of phase-modulation.Structure images of three-dimensional modulated structure along <100> were taken with the JEM-4000EX high-resolution electron microscope at the HVEM Laboratory, Kyushu University. The transmitted beam and four 200 reflections with their satellites from the modulated structure in an fee Ni-30.0at%Au alloy under illumination of 400keV electrons were used for the structure images under a condition of the spherical aberration constant of the objective lens, Cs = 1mm, the divergence of the beam, α = 3 × 10-4 rad, underfocus, Δf ≃ -50nm and specimen thickness, t ≃ 15nm. The CIHRTEM code was used for the simulation of the structure image.
