Publication
Title
Measurement of atomic electric fields and charge densities from average momentum transfers using scanning transmission electron microscopy
Author
Abstract
This study sheds light on the prerequisites, possibilities, limitations and interpretation of high-resolution differential phase contrast (DPC) imaging in scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). We draw particular attention to the well-established DPC technique based on segmented annular detectors and its relation to recent developments based on pixelated detectors. These employ the expectation value of the momentum transfer as a reliable measure of the angular deflection of the STEM beam induced by an electric field in the specimen. The influence of scattering and propagation of electrons within the specimen is initially discussed separately and then treated in terms of a two-state channeling theory. A detailed simulation study of GaN is presented as a function of specimen thickness and bonding. It is found that bonding effects are rather detectable implicitly, e.g., by characteristics of the momentum flux in areas between the atoms than by directly mapping electric fields and charge densities. For strontium titanate, experimental charge densities are compared with simulations and discussed with respect to experimental artifacts such as scan noise. Finally, we consider practical issues such as figures of merit for spatial and momentum resolution, minimum electron dose, and the mapping of larger-scale, built-in electric fields by virtue of data averaged over a crystal unit cell. We find that the latter is possible for crystals with an inversion center. Concerning the optimal detector design, this study indicates that a sampling of View the MathML source per pixel is sufficient in typical applications, corresponding to approximately 10×10 available pixels.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Ultramicroscopy. - Amsterdam
Publication
Amsterdam : Elsevier science bv , 2017
ISSN
0304-3991
DOI
10.1016/J.ULTRAMIC.2016.05.004
Volume/pages
178 (2017) , p. 62-80
ISI
000403862900009
Pubmed ID
27217350
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
SOLARPAINT: Understanding the durability of light sensitive materials: transferring insights between solar cell physics and the chemistry of paintings.
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 05.07.2016
Last edited 09.10.2023
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