scholarly journals Characterization of aluminum oxide tunnel barriers by combining transport measurements and transmission electron microscopy imaging

2014 ◽  
Vol 116 (7) ◽  
pp. 073702 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Aref ◽  
A. Averin ◽  
S. van Dijken ◽  
A. Ferring ◽  
M. Koberidze ◽  
...  
Author(s):  
George Guthrie ◽  
David Veblen

The nature of a geologic fluid can often be inferred from fluid-filled cavities (generally <100 μm in size) that are trapped during the growth of a mineral. A variety of techniques enables the fluids and daughter crystals (any solid precipitated from the trapped fluid) to be identified from cavities greater than a few micrometers. Many minerals, however, contain fluid inclusions smaller than a micrometer. Though inclusions this small are difficult or impossible to study by conventional techniques, they are ideally suited for study by analytical/ transmission electron microscopy (A/TEM) and electron diffraction. We have used this technique to study fluid inclusions and daughter crystals in diamond and feldspar.Inclusion-rich samples of diamond and feldspar were ion-thinned to electron transparency and examined with a Philips 420T electron microscope (120 keV) equipped with an EDAX beryllium-windowed energy dispersive spectrometer. Thin edges of the sample were perforated in areas that appeared in light microscopy to be populated densely with inclusions. In a few cases, the perforations were bound polygonal sides to which crystals (structurally and compositionally different from the host mineral) were attached (Figure 1).


Microscopy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoguang Li ◽  
Kazutaka Mitsuishi ◽  
Masaki Takeguchi

Abstract Liquid cell transmission electron microscopy (LCTEM) enables imaging of dynamic processes in liquid with high spatial and temporal resolution. The widely used liquid cell (LC) consists of two stacking microchips with a thin wet sample sandwiched between them. The vertically overlapped electron-transparent membrane windows on the microchips provide passage for the electron beam. However, microchips with imprecise dimensions usually cause poor alignment of the windows and difficulty in acquiring high-quality images. In this study, we developed a new and efficient microchip fabrication process for LCTEM with a large viewing area (180 µm × 40 µm) and evaluated the resultant LC. The new positioning reference marks on the surface of the Si wafer dramatically improve the precision of dicing the wafer, making it possible to accurately align the windows on two stacking microchips. The precise alignment led to a liquid thickness of 125.6 nm close to the edge of the viewing area. The performance of our LC was demonstrated by in situ transmission electron microscopy imaging of the dynamic motions of 2-nm Pt particles. This versatile and cost-effective microchip production method can be used to fabricate other types of microchips for in situ electron microscopy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 75 (11) ◽  
pp. 913-919
Author(s):  
Frank Krumeich

AbstractSince the 1970s, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) is well established as the most appropriate method to explore the structural complexity of niobium tungsten oxides. Today, scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) represents an important alternative for performing the structural characterization of such oxides. STEM images recorded with a high-angle annular dark field (HAADF) detector provide not only information about the cation positions but also about the distribution of niobium and tungsten as the intensity is directly correlated to the local scattering potential. The applicability of this method is demonstrated here for the characterization of the real structure of Nb7W10O47.5. This sample contains well-ordered domains of Nb8W9O47 and Nb4W7O31 besides little ordered areas according to HRTEM results. Structural models for Nb4W7O31 and twinning occurring in this phase have been derived from the interpretation of HAADF-STEM images. A remarkable grain boundary between well-ordered domains of Nb4W7O31 and Nb8W9O47 has been found that contains one-dimensionally periodic features. Furthermore, short-range order observed in less ordered areas could be attributed to an intimate intergrowth of small sections of different tetragonal tungsten bronze (TTB) based structures.


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