Element-selective imaging of atomic columns in a crystal using STEM and EELS

Microstructure characterization has become indispensable to the study of complex materials, such as strongly correlated oxides, and can obtain useful information about the origin of their physical properties. Although atomically resolved measurements have long been possible, an important goal in mic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature 2007-11, Vol.450 (7170), p.702-704
Main Authors: Kimoto, Koji, Asaka, Toru, Nagai, Takuro, Saito, Mitsuhiro, Matsui, Yoshio, Ishizuka, Kazuo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atoms & subatomic particles
Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties
Crystals
Dimensional analysis
Electron energy loss spectroscopy
Exact sciences and technology
Humanities and Social Sciences
Imaging
Instrumentation
letter
Mass spectrometry
Microstructure
multidisciplinary
Physical properties
Physics
Scanning electron microscopy
Scanning transmission electron microscopy
Science
Scientific imaging
Spectroscopy
Structure of solids and liquids
crystallography
Two dimensional
X-ray diffraction and scattering
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Summary:Microstructure characterization has become indispensable to the study of complex materials, such as strongly correlated oxides, and can obtain useful information about the origin of their physical properties. Although atomically resolved measurements have long been possible, an important goal in microstructure characterization is to achieve element-selective imaging at atomic resolution. A combination of scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) is a promising technique for atomic-column analysis. However, two-dimensional analysis has not yet been performed owing to several difficulties, such as delocalization in inelastic scattering or instrumentation instabilities. Here we demonstrate atomic-column imaging of a crystal specimen using localized inelastic scattering and a stabilized scanning transmission electron microscope. The atomic columns of La, Mn and O in the layered manganite La1.2Sr1.8Mn2O7 are visualized as two-dimensional images.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
1476-4679
DOI:10.1038/nature06352