Characterization of Tilt Boundaries by Ultra High Resolution Electron Microscopy

1984 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Krakow ◽  
J. T. Wetzel ◽  
D. A. Smith ◽  
G. Trafas
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Grain Boundary ◽  
Structural Information ◽  
Theoretical Work ◽  
High Resolution Electron Microscopy ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Experimental Point ◽  
Structure Information ◽  
Resolution Electron ◽  
Tilt Boundaries

AbstractA high resolution electron microscope study of grain boundary structures in Au thin films has been undertaken from both a theoretical and experimental point of view. The criteria necessary to interpret images of tilt boundaries at the atomic level, which include electron optical and specimen effects, have been considered for both 200kV and the newer 400kV medium voltage microscopes. So far, the theoretical work has concentrated on two different [001] tilt bounda-ries where a resolution of 2.03Å is required to visualize bulk lattice structures on either side of the interface. Both a high angle boundary, (210) σ=5, and a low angle boundary, (910) σ=41, have been considered. Computational results using multislice dynamical diffraction and image simulations of relaxed bounda-ries viewed edge-on and with small amounts of beam and/or specimen inclina-tion have been obtained. It will be shown that some structural information concerning grain boundary dislocations can be observed at 200kV. However, many difficulties occur in the exact identification of the interface structure viewed experimentally for both [001] and [011] boundaries since the resolution required is near the performance limit of a 200kV microscope. The simulated results at 400kV indicate a considerable improvement will be realized in obtain-ing atomic structure information at the interface.

Electron crystallographic determination of the 3-D structure of staurolite at atomic resolution

1991 ◽  
Vol 49 ◽  
pp. 540-541
Author(s):  
Kenneth H. Downing ◽  
Hu Meisheng ◽  
Hans-Rudolf Went ◽  
Michael A. O'Keefe
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
High Resolution Electron Microscopy ◽  
Atomic Resolution ◽  
Dimensional Structure ◽  
Structure Information ◽  
Resolution Electron ◽  
Scattering Effects ◽  
High Resolution Images ◽  
Effects Of Radiation

With current advances in electron microscope design, high resolution electron microscopy has become routine, and point resolutions of better than 2Å have been obtained in images of many inorganic crystals. Although this resolution is sufficient to resolve interatomic spacings, interpretation generally requires comparison of experimental images with calculations. Since the images are two-dimensional representations of projections of the full three-dimensional structure, information is invariably lost in the overlapping images of atoms at various heights. The technique of electron crystallography, in which information from several views of a crystal is combined, has been developed to obtain three-dimensional information on proteins. The resolution in images of proteins is severely limited by effects of radiation damage. In principle, atomic-resolution, 3D reconstructions should be obtainable from specimens that are resistant to damage. The most serious problem would appear to be in obtaining high-resolution images from areas that are thin enough that dynamical scattering effects can be ignored.

High-resolution electron microscopy of Cu2O surfaces

1986 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 396-397
Author(s):  
V. Castano ◽  
W. Krakow
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Natural Extension ◽  
High Resolution Electron Microscopy ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Initial Oxidation ◽  
System A ◽  
Resolution Electron ◽  
Surface Reconstructions ◽  
Atomic Surface ◽  
Au Thin Films

In non-UHV microscope environments atomic surface structure has been observed for flat-on for various orientations of Au thin films and edge-on for columns of atoms in small particles. The problem of oxidation of surfaces has only recently been reported from the point of view of high resolution microscopy revealing surface reconstructions for the Ag2O system. A natural extension of these initial oxidation studies is to explore other materials areas which are technologically more significant such as that of Cu2O, which will now be described.

Atomic chemistry by HREM and image simulations?

1986 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 828-829
Author(s):  
J.M. Howe ◽  
R. Gronsky
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Structural Information ◽  
High Resolution Electron Microscopy ◽  
Resolution Electron ◽  
Image Simulations

The technique of high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM) is invaluable to the materials scientist because it allows examination of microstructural features at levels of resolution that are unobtainable by most other methods. Although the structural information which can be determined by HREM and accompanying image simulations has been well documented in the literature, there have only been a few cases where this technique has been used to reveal the chemistry of individual columns or planes of atoms, as occur in segregated and ordered materials.

Structural Transformation of a Germanium Σ=13 (510) [001] Tilt Grain Boundary under the Electron Beam

1990 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Luc Rouvière ◽  
Alain Bourret
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Grain Boundary ◽  
Structural Transformation ◽  
Mirror Symmetry ◽  
High Resolution Electron Microscopy ◽  
Structural Transformations ◽  
Covalent Bonds ◽  
Resolution Electron ◽  
Tilt Grain Boundary

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).

High-resolution Electron Microscopy Observation of Grain-boundary Films in Superplastically Deformed Silicon Nitride

2000 ◽  
Vol 15 (7) ◽  
pp. 1551-1555 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guo-Dong Zhan ◽  
Mamoru Mitomo ◽  
Yuichi Ikuhara ◽  
Taketo Sakuma
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Silicon Nitride ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Grain Boundary ◽  
Applied Stress ◽  
Thickness Distribution ◽  
High Resolution Electron Microscopy ◽  
Stress Axis ◽  
Resolution Electron ◽  
Boundary Films

The thickness distribution of grain-boundary films during the superplastic deformation of fine-grained β–silicon nitride was investigated by high-resolution electron microscopy. In particular, grain-boundary thickness was considered with respect to the stress axis in two orientations; namely, parallel and perpendicular to the direction of applied stress. The results showed that the thickness distribution in boundaries perpendicular to the direction of applied stress was unimodal, whereas in parallel boundaries it was bimodal. Moreover, it was found that the majority of film-free boundaries were parallel to the direction of applied stress in the extremely deformed sample. The variation in spacing reflects distribution of stresses within the material due to irregular shape of the grains and the existence of percolating load-bearing paths through the microstructure.

High-Resolution Electron Microscopy Observations of Grain-Boundary Films in Silicon Nitride Ceramics

1992 ◽  
Vol 287 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.-J. Kleebe ◽  
M. K. Cinibulk ◽  
I. Tanaka ◽  
J. Bruley ◽  
R. M. Cannon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Silicon Nitride ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Grain Boundary ◽  
Film Thickness ◽  
High Resolution Electron Microscopy ◽  
Resolution Electron ◽  
Nitride Ceramics ◽  
Boundary Films ◽  
Repulsive Forces

ABSTRACTCharacterization of silicon nitride ceramics by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) provides structural and compositional information on intergranular phases necessary to elucidate the factors that can influence the presence and thickness of grain-boundary films. Different TEM techniques can be used for the detection and determination of intergranular-film thickness, however, the most accurate results are obtained by high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM). HREM studies were applied, in conjunction with analytical electron microscopy, to investigate the correlation between intergranular-phase composition and film thickness. Statistical analyses of a number of grain-boundary films provided experimental verification of a theoretical equilibrium film thickness. Model experiments on a high-purity Si3N4 material, doped with low amounts of Ca, suggest the presence of two repulsive forces, a steric force and a force produced by an electrical double layer, that may act to balance the attractive van der Waals force necessary to establish an equilibrium film thickness.

What is the Future for Image Simulation?

1997 ◽  
Vol 3 (S2) ◽  
pp. 1139-1140
Author(s):  
D. Van Dyck
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Atomic Structure ◽  
Structural Information ◽  
High Resolution Electron Microscopy ◽  
Information Channel ◽  
Image Simulation ◽  
Phase Information ◽  
Indirect Approach ◽  
Resolution Electron ◽  
High Resolution Images

The ultimate goal of high resolution electron microscopy is to determine quantitatively the atomic structure of an object. In this respect the electron microscope can be considered as an information channel that carries this information from the object to the observer. High resolution images are then to be considered as data planes from which the structural information has to be extracted.However this structural information is usually hidden in the images and cannot easily be assessed. Therefore, a quantitative approach is required in which all steps in the imaging process are taken into account. Two main approaches have been followed so far in the literature: the indirect approach in which the images are simulated for various plausible trial structures of the object and compared with the experimental images, and the direct approach in which the lost phase information is retrieved using holographic techniques so as to “deblur” the effect of the microscope and to reveal directly the atomic structure of the object.

Characterization of structural units in tilt grain boundaries

1992 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-121
Author(s):  
Stuart McKernan ◽  
C. Barry Carter
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Grain Boundary ◽  
Grain Boundaries ◽  
High Resolution Electron Microscopy ◽  
Boundary Structure ◽  
Structural Units ◽  
Symmetric Tilt ◽  
Resolution Electron ◽  
Special Cases ◽  
High Resolution Electron Microscope

General tilt grain boundaries can be viewed in terms of small structural units of varying complexity. High-resolution electron microscope (HREM) images of these boundaries in many materials show this repetitive similarity of the atomic structure at the boundary plane. The structure of particular grain boundaries has been examined for several special cases and commonly observed configurations include symmetric tilt grain boundaries and asymmetric tilt grain boundaries with one grain having a prominent, low-index facet. Several different configurations of the boundary structure may possibly occur, even in the same grain boundary. There are thus many possible ways to assemble the basic structural units to form a grain boundary. These structural units and their distribution have traditionally been examined by high-resolution electron microscopy. The images of the projection of the atomic columns (or the tunnels between atomic columns) providing a template for constructing “ball-and-stick ” models of the interface.

Time-resolved high-resolution electron microscopy of structural transformation in nanocrystalline ZnO films

1996 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
pp. 978-979
Author(s):  
T. Kizuka ◽  
N. Tanaka
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Grain Boundary ◽  
Structural Transformation ◽  
Superplastic Deformation ◽  
Boundary Migration ◽  
High Resolution Electron Microscopy ◽  
Grain Boundary Migration ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
Resolution Electron

Mechanical properties of polycrystalline materials become anomalous when the grain size and grain boundary length decrease to nanometer scale. For example, ductility and toughness increase significantly in nanometer-grained ceramics (nanocrystalline ceramics). Ductility increases due to appearance of fine-grained-superplastic deformation. Grain boundary migration and interface migration are fundamental processes of the superplastic deformation. Structural transformation of fine grains is a factor which limits the toughness in polycrystalline ceramics because the transformation relaxes internal strain. The behavior of grain boundaries and interfaces, such as diffusion bonding and Czochralski-type crystal growth at ambient temperature, can be analyzed by a time-resolved high-resolution electron microscopy (TRHREM) developed by Kizuka et al.,In the present study, grain boundary migration and successive transformation of crystal structure in nanocrystalline ZnO were investigated by TRHREM.Zinc oxide was vacuum-deposited on air-cleaved (001) surfaces of sodium chloride at 200°C. TRHREM was carried out at room temperature using a 200-kV electron microscope (JEOL, JEM2010) equipped with a high sensitive TV camera and a video tape recorder.

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