Automated detection and mapping of crystal tilt using thermal diffuse scattering in transmission electron microscopy

Ultramicroscopy, vol. 267, pp. 114050

Abstract

Quantitative interpretation of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) data of crystalline specimens often requires the accurate knowledge of the local crystal orientation. A method is presented which exploits momentum-resolved scanning TEM (STEM) data to determine the local mistilt from a major zone axis. It is based on a geometric analysis of Kikuchi bands within a single diffraction pattern, yielding the center of the Laue circle. Whereas the approach is not limited to convergent illumination, it is here developed using unit-cell averaged diffraction patterns corresponding to high-resolution STEM settings. In simulation studies, an accuracy of approximately 0.1 mrad is found. The method is implemented in automated software and applied to crystallographic tilt and in-plane rotation mapping in two experimental cases. In particular, orientation maps of high-Mn steel and an epitaxially grown La 0.7 Sr 0.3 MnO 3 -SrTiO 3 interface are presented. The results confirm the estimates of the simulation study and indicate that tilt mapping can be performed consistently over a wide field of view with diameters well above 100 nm at unit cell real space sampling. • Crystallographic tilt is automatically detected from Kikuchi bands in diffraction patterns. • The method is applied to simulated and experimental 4D-STEM data. • Investigation of specimen bending as well as tilt and rotation at crystal domain boundaries.

Authors 9

1. Mauricio Cattaneo Aachen 2nd Institute of Physics

   RWTH Aachen University · Forschungszentrum Jülich · Ernst Ruska Centre

   Affiliation as printed

   Ernst Ruska Centre (ER-C), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany; 2nd Institute of Physics, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

2. Knut Müller‐Caspary corresponding

   Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München · Forschungszentrum Jülich · Center for NanoScience · Ernst Ruska Centre

   Affiliation as printed

   Ernst Ruska Centre (ER-C), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany; Department of Chemistry and Centre for NanoScience, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Butenandtstr. 11, 81377 Munich, Germany. Electronic address: k.mueller-caspary@cup.lmu.de

3. Juri Barthel corresponding

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Ernst Ruska Centre

   Affiliation as printed

   Ernst Ruska Centre (ER-C), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany. Electronic address: ju.barthel@fz-juelich.de

4. Katherine E. MacArthur

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Ernst Ruska Centre

   Affiliation as printed

   Ernst Ruska Centre (ER-C), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany

5. Nicolas Gauquelin

   University of Antwerp

   Affiliation as printed

   Electron Microscopy for Materials Science (EMAT), University of Antwerp, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium

6. Marta Lipińska-Chwałek Aachen Central Facility for Electron Microscopy

   RWTH Aachen University · Forschungszentrum Jülich · Ernst Ruska Centre

   Affiliation as printed

   Ernst Ruska Centre (ER-C), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany; Central Facility for Electron Microscopy, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

7. Johan Verbeeck

   University of Antwerp

   Affiliation as printed

   Electron Microscopy for Materials Science (EMAT), University of Antwerp, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium

8. Leslie J. Allen

   The University of Melbourne

   Affiliation as printed

   School of Physics, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia

9. Rafal E. Dunin‐Borkowski

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Ernst Ruska Centre

   Affiliation as printed

   Ernst Ruska Centre (ER-C), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany