Progress in ultrahigh energy resolution EELS.

Electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) in the electron microscope has progressed remarkably in the last five years. Advances in monochromator and spectrometer design have improved the energy resolution attainable in a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) to 4.2 meV, and new applications of ultrahigh energy resolution EELS have not lagged behind. They include vibrational spectroscopy in the electron microscope, a field that did not exist 5 years ago but has now grown very substantially. Notable examples include vibrational mapping with about 1 nm spatial resolution, analyzing the momentum dependence of vibrational states in very small volumes, determining the local temperature of the sample from the ratio of energy gains to energy losses, detecting hydrogen and analyzing its bonding, probing radiation-sensitive materials with minimized damage by aloof spectroscopy and leap-frog scanning, and identifying biological molecules with different isotopic substitutions. We review the instrumentation advances, provide a summary of key applications, and chart likely future directions.

Observations of Co4+ in a higher spin state and the increase in the Seebeck coefficient of thermoelectric Ca3Co4O9.

Ca3Co4O9 has a unique structure that leads to exceptionally high thermoelectric transport. Here we report the achievement of a 27% increase in the room-temperature in-plane Seebeck coefficient of Ca3Co4O9 thin films. We combine aberration-corrected Z-contrast imaging, atomic-column resolved electron energy-loss spectroscopy, and density-functional calculations to show that the increase is caused by stacking faults with Co4+-ions in a higher spin state compared to that of bulk Ca3Co4O9. The higher Seebeck coefficient makes the Ca3Co4O9 system suitable for many high temperature waste-heat-recovery applications.

Atomic structure of highly strained BiFeO3 thin films.

We determine the atomic structure of the pseudotetragonal T phase and the pseudorhombohedral R phase in highly strained multiferroic BiFeO(3) thin films by using a combination of atomic-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy and electron energy-loss spectroscopy. The coordination of the Fe atoms and their displacement relative to the O and Bi positions are assessed by direct imaging. These observations allow us to interpret the electronic structure data derived from electron energy-loss spectroscopy and provide evidence for the giant spontaneous polarization in strained BiFeO(3) thin films.

Characterizing the two- and three-dimensional resolution of an improved aberration-corrected STEM.

The successful development of third-order aberration correctors in transmission electron microscopy has seen aberration-corrected electron microscopes evolve from specialist projects, custom built at a small number of sites to common instruments in many modern laboratories. Here we describe some initial results illustrating the two- and three-dimensional (3D) performance of an aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope with a prototype improved aberration corrector designed to also minimize fifth-order aberrations and a new, higher brightness gun. We show that atomic columns separated by 0.63 A can be resolved and demonstrate detection of single dopant atoms with 3D sensitivity.

Interface structure and atomic bonding characteristics in silicon nitride ceramics.

Direct atomic resolution images have been obtained that illustrate how a range of rare-earth atoms bond to the interface between the intergranular phase and the matrix grains in an advanced silicon nitride ceramic. It has been found that each rare-earth atom bonds to the interface at a different location, depending on atom size, electronic configuration, and the presence of oxygen at the interface. This is the key factor to understanding the origin of the mechanical properties in these ceramics and will enable precise tailoring in the future to critically improve the materials' performance in wide-ranging applications.