High Resolution Electron Microscopy of internal interfaces in layered materials

Author(s):  
Yoichi Ishida ◽  
Hideki Ichinose ◽  
Yutaka Takahashi ◽  
Jin-yeh Wang

Layered materials draw attention in recent years in response to the world-wide drive to discover new functional materials. High-Tc superconducting oxide is one example. Internal interfaces in such layered materials differ significantly from those of cubic metals. They are often parallel to the layer of the neighboring crystals in sintered samples(layer plane boundary), while periodically ordered interfaces with the two neighboring crystals in mirror symmetry to each other are relatively rare. Consequently, the atomistic features of the interface differ significantly from those of cubic metals. In this paper grain boundaries in sintered high-Tc superconducting oxides, joined interfaces between engineering ceramics with metals, and polytype interfaces in vapor-deposited bicrystal are examined to collect atomic information of the interfaces in layered materials. The analysis proved that they are not neccessarily more complicated than that of simple grain boundaries in cubic metals. The interfaces are majorly layer plane type which is parallel to the compound layer. Secondly, chemical information is often available, which helps the interpretation of the interface atomic structure.

1985 ◽  
Vol 60 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. L. Merkle ◽  
J. F. Reddy ◽  
C. L. Wiley ◽  
David J. Smith ◽  
G. J. Wood

AbstractThe atomic structures of a number of <001> high-angle tilt grain boundaries in NiO have been studied by high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM). Crystal 1inity is always maintained right up to the grain boundary (GB). Grain boundary planes bounded by a (100)-plane are preferred, however symmetrical facets are also found at each misorientation. A tendency to match atomic planes across the GB is not only observed in symmetrical, but also in asymmetrical GBs. Structural units can be clearly recognized in symmetrical GBs. Contrast differences suggest that a multiplicity of structural units exists for some GB configurations. Frequently symmetric GBs also show deviations from mirror symmetry. Multislice simultations indicate that the image contrast associated with HREM GB images is not particularly sensitive to GB relaxation.


Author(s):  
D. Cherns

The use of high resolution electron microscopy (HREM) to determine the atomic structure of grain boundaries and interfaces is a topic of great current interest. Grain boundary structure has been considered for many years as central to an understanding of the mechanical and transport properties of materials. Some more recent attention has focussed on the atomic structures of metalsemiconductor interfaces which are believed to control electrical properties of contacts. The atomic structures of interfaces in semiconductor or metal multilayers is an area of growing interest for understanding the unusual electrical or mechanical properties which these new materials possess. However, although the point-to-point resolutions of currently available HREMs, ∼2-3Å, appear sufficient to solve many of these problems, few atomic models of grain boundaries and interfaces have been derived. Moreover, with a new generation of 300-400kV instruments promising resolutions in the 1.6-2.0 Å range, and resolutions better than 1.5Å expected from specialist instruments, it is an appropriate time to consider the usefulness of HREM for interface studies.


Author(s):  
M. José-Yacamán

Electron microscopy is a fundamental tool in materials characterization. In the case of nanostructured materials we are looking for features with a size in the nanometer range. Therefore often the conventional TEM techniques are not enough for characterization of nanophases. High Resolution Electron Microscopy (HREM), is a key technique in order to characterize those materials with a resolution of ~ 1.7A. High resolution studies of metallic nanostructured materials has been also reported in the literature. It is concluded that boundaries in nanophase materials are similar in structure to the regular grain boundaries. That work therefore did not confirm the early hipothesis on the field that grain boundaries in nanostructured materials have a special behavior. We will show in this paper that by a combination of HREM image processing, and image calculations, it is possible to prove that small particles and coalesced grains have a significant surface roughness, as well as large internal strain.


Author(s):  
M.J. Kim ◽  
Y.L. Chen ◽  
R.W. Carpenter ◽  
J.C. Barry ◽  
G.H. Schwuttke

The structure of grain boundaries (GBs) in metals, semiconductors and ceramics is of considerable interest because of their influence on physical properties. Progress in understanding the structure of grain boundaries at the atomic level has been made by high resolution electron microscopy (HREM) . In the present study, a Σ=13, (510) <001>-tilt grain boundary in silicon was characterized by HREM in conjunction with digital image processing and computer image simulation techniques.The bicrystals were grown from the melt by the Czochralski method, using preoriented seeds. Specimens for TEM observations were cut from the bicrystals perpendicular to the common rotation axis of pure tilt grain boundary, and were mechanically dimpled and then ion-milled to electron transparency. The degree of misorientation between the common <001> axis of the bicrystal was measured by CBED in a Philips EM 400ST/FEG: it was found to be less than 1 mrad. HREM was performed at 200 kV in an ISI-002B and at 400 kv in a JEM-4000EX.


Author(s):  
Jean-Luc Rouvière ◽  
Alain Bourret

The possible structural transformations during the sample preparations and the sample observations are important issues in electron microscopy. Several publications of High Resolution Electron Microscopy (HREM) have reported that structural transformations and evaporation of the thin parts of a specimen could happen in the microscope. Diffusion and preferential etchings could also occur during the sample preparation.Here we report a structural transformation of a germanium Σ=13 (510) [001] tilt grain boundary that occurred in a medium-voltage electron microscopy (JEOL 400KV).Among the different (001) tilt grain boundaries whose atomic structures were entirely determined by High Resolution Electron Microscopy (Σ = 5(310), Σ = 13 (320), Σ = 13 (510), Σ = 65 (1130), Σ = 25 (710) and Σ = 41 (910), the Σ = 13 (510) interface is the most interesting. It exhibits two kinds of structures. One of them, the M-structure, has tetracoordinated covalent bonds and is periodic (fig. 1). The other, the U-structure, is also tetracoordinated but is not strictly periodic (fig. 2). It is composed of a periodically repeated constant part that separates variable cores where some atoms can have several stable positions. The M-structure has a mirror glide symmetry. At Scherzer defocus, its HREM images have characteristic groups of three big white dots that are distributed on alternatively facing right and left arcs (fig. 1). The (001) projection of the U-structure has an apparent mirror symmetry, the portions of good coincidence zones (“perfect crystal structure”) regularly separate the variable cores regions (fig. 2).


2006 ◽  
Vol 12 (S02) ◽  
pp. 894-895
Author(s):  
M Hytch ◽  
J-L Putaux ◽  
J Thibault

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2006 in Chicago, Illinois, USA, July 30 – August 3, 2006


2013 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Paul ◽  
P. Uliasz ◽  
M. Miszczyk ◽  
W. Skuza ◽  
T. Knych

The crystal lattice rotations induced by shear bands formation have been examined in order to investigate the influence of grain boundaries on slip propagation and the resulting texture evolution. The issue was analysed on Al-0.23wt.%Zr alloy as a representative of face centered cubic metals with medium-to-high stacking fault energy. After solidification, the microstructure of the alloy was composed of flat, twin-oriented, large grains. The samples were cut-off from the as-cast ingot in such a way that the twinning planes were situated almost parallel to the compression plane. The samples were then deformed at 77K in channel-die up to strains of 0.69. To correlate the substructure with the slip patterns, the deformed specimens were examined by SEM equipped with a field emission gun and electron backscattered diffraction facilities. Microtexture measurements showed that strictly defined crystal lattice re-orientations occurred in the sample volumes situated within the area of the broad macroscopic shear bands (MSB), although the grains initially had quite different crystallographic orientations. Independently of the grain orientation, their crystal lattice rotated in such a way that one of the f111g slip planes became nearly parallel to the plane of maximum shear. This facilitates the slip propagation across the grain boundaries along the shear direction without any visible variation in the slip plane. A natural consequence of this rotation is the formation of specific MSB microtextures which facilitates slip propagation across grain boundaries.


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