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Enhanced Compositional Contrast in Imaging of Nanoprecipitates Buried in a Defective Crystal Using a Conventional TEM

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2003

Ute Kaiser
Affiliation:
Institut für Festkörperphysik, Friedrich-Schiller Universität, Jena 07743, Germany
Andrey Chuvilin
Affiliation:
Institut für Festkörperphysik, Friedrich-Schiller Universität, Jena 07743, Germany Institute of Catalysis, Novosibirsk, 90630090 Russia
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Abstract

In this article, we show that nanometer-sized precipitates of atomic numbers higher than those of the surrounding crystalline matrix can be clearly revealed in a conventional transmission electron microscope by high-angle, centered dark-field imaging after minimizing the diffraction contrast. The effect is similar to that of Z-contrast STEM, albeit with a spatial resolution limited to 1 nm. Its sensitivity to atomic number differences between precipitates and matrix is about 10, which is demonstrated for precipitates formed after Er, Ge, Cr, and Si ion implantation into SiC.

Type
Instrumentation and Technique
Copyright
© 2003 Microscopy Society of America

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