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Atomic-Resolution Z-Contrast Imaging and its Application to Compositional Ordering and Segregation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2011

S. J. Pennycook ,
Y. Yan ,
A. Norman ,
Y. Zhang ,
M. Al-Jassim ,
A. Mascarenhas ,
S. P. Ahrenkiel ,
M. F. Chisholm ,
G. Duscher  and
S. T. Pantelides
S. J. Pennycook
Affiliation:
Solid State Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831–6030 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN 37235, USA
Y. Yan
Affiliation:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, Colorado 80401
A. Norman
Affiliation:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, Colorado 80401
Y. Zhang
Affiliation:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, Colorado 80401
M. Al-Jassim
Affiliation:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, Colorado 80401
A. Mascarenhas
Affiliation:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, Colorado 80401
S. P. Ahrenkiel
Affiliation:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, Colorado 80401
M. F. Chisholm
Affiliation:
Solid State Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831–6030
G. Duscher
Affiliation:
Solid State Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831–6030 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN 37235, USA
S. T. Pantelides
Affiliation:
Solid State Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831–6030 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN 37235, USA
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Abstract

In the last ten years, the scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) has become capable of forming electron probes of atomic dimensions making possible a new approach to high-resolution electron microscopy, Z-contrast imaging. Formed by mapping the intensity of high-angle scattered electrons as the probe is scanned across the specimen, the Z-contrast image represents a direct map of the specimen scattering power at atomic resolution. It is an incoherent image, and can be directly interpreted in terms of atomic columns. High angle scattering comes predominantly from the atomic nuclei, so the scattering cross section depends on atomic number (Z) squared. Z-contrast microscopy can therefore be used to study compositional ordering and segregation at the atomic scale. Here we present three examples of ordering: first, ferroelectric materials, second, III-V semiconductor alloys, and finally, cooperative segregation at a semiconductor grain boundary, where a combination of Z-contrast imaging with first principles theory provides a complete atomic-scale view of the sites and configurations of the segregant atoms.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 583 , 1999 , 235
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2000

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