Investigation of three-dimensional grain-boundary structures in oxides through multiple-scattering analysis of spatially resolved electron-energy-loss spectra
- Department of Physics (M/C 273), University of Illinois at Chicago, 845 West Taylor Street, Chicago, Illinois 60607-7059 (United States)
Grain boundaries in oxide materials such as electroceramics, ferroelectrics, and high-T{sub c} superconductors are known to dominate their overall bulk properties. The critical first step in a fundamental understanding of {ital how} they control the properties of the material is a determination of the atomic structure of the boundary. While this determination has traditionally been performed by transmission-electron microscopy, the images that are generated are only a two-dimensional projection of the atomic columns in the grain-boundary core. In addition, as the images are least sensitive to light elements, such as oxygen, the complete three-dimensional boundary structure is particularly difficult to determine. Employing electron-energy-loss spectroscopy in a scanning transmission-electron microscope, it is possible to obtain an oxygen {ital K}-edge spectrum that contains information on the three-dimensional electronic structure of the boundary. Using the multiple-scattering methodology, originally developed for x-ray absorption near-edge structure, this can be directly related to the local three-dimensional atomic structure. Contained in the spectrum is therefore all of the information needed to investigate the atomic scale structure-property relationships at grain boundaries. The application of the technique is demonstrated here for the 25{degree} [001] symmetric tilt boundary in SrTiO{sub 3}. thinsp {copyright} {ital 1998} {ital The American Physical Society}
- OSTI ID:
- 659321
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter, Vol. 58, Issue 13; Other Information: PBD: Oct 1998
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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