Atomic phase contrast

The im< e mode produces an image of the illuminated sample area, as in Figure 2. The imj e can contain contrast brought about by several mechanisms mass contrast, due to spatial separations between distinct atomic constituents thickness contrast, due to nonuniformity in sample thickness diffraction contrast, which in the case of crystalline materials results from scattering of the incident electron wave by structural defects and phase contrast (see discussion later in this article). Alternating between imj e and diffraction mode on a TEM involves nothing more than the flick of a switch. The reasons for this simplicity are buried in the intricate electron optics technology that makes the practice of TEM possible. 

Figure 5 Images of a thin region of an epitaxial film of Ge on Si grown by oxidation of Ge-implanted Si (a) conventional TEM phase contrast image with no compositional information and b) high-angle dark-field STEM image showing atomically sharp interface between Si and Ge. (Courtesy of S.J. Pennycook)...

Although the structure of [SsN] has not been established by X-ray crystallography, the vibrational spectra of 30% N-enriched [SsN] suggest an unbranched [SNSS] (5.22) arrangement of atoms in contrast to the branched structure (Dsh) of the isoelectronic [CSs] and the isovalent [NOs] ion (Section 1.2). Mass spectrometric experiments also support the SNSS connectivity in the gas phase.Many metal complexes are known in which the [SsN] ion is chelated to the metal by two sulfur atoms (Section 7.3.3). Indeed the first such complex, Ni(S3N)2, was reported more than twenty years before the discovery of the anion. It was isolated as a very minor product from the reaction of NiCl2 and S4N4 in methanol. However, some of these complexes, e.g., Cu and Ag complexes, may be obtained by metathetical reactions between the [S3N] ion and metal halides. 

Ru(II)-TPPTS to the corresponding unsaturated alcohols in biphasic mode. If one compares the reaction times until full conversion, it becomes clear that the reaction rate correlates with the solubility of the substrate in the aqueous phase, as expected. The latter decreases with increasing chain length or branching of the chain at the C3-atom. In contrast to heterogeneously catalysed hydrogenations of o , d-unsaturated aldehydes, the steric hindrance of substituents at the C3-atom only plays a minor role in the coordination mode of the substrate at the metal centre, since selectivity differences from croton-aldehyde to citral are marginal. 

Based on TEM studies of supported metal catalysts, several workers have concluded that their catalysts were made of two-dimensional discs or rafts , where virtually all atoms are at the particle surface. However, sample tilting experiments in TEM have shown that great care should be exercised in the interpretation of TEM images of small particles (<2 nm in size), since phase contrast effects may dominate and variations in the particle contrast with specimen orientation can occur as a result of amplitude contrast effects (Treacy and Howie 1980). Sample tilting is therefore necessary to ensure correct interpretations of TEM images of metal-particle catalysts. This will be discussed further in the following sections. 

Powerful methods that have been developed more recently, and are currently used to observe surface micro topographs of crystal faces, include scanning tunnel microscopy (STM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and phase shifting microscopy (PSM). Both STM and AFM use microscopes that (i) are able to detect and measure the differences in levels of nanometer order (ii) can increase two-dimensional magnification, and (iii) will increase the detection of the horizontal limit beyond that achievable with phase contrast or differential interference contrast microscopy. The presence of two-dimensional nuclei on terraced surfaces between steps, which were not observable under optical microscopes, has been successfully detected by these methods [8], [9]. In situ observation of the movement of steps of nanometer order in height is also made possible by these techniques. However, it is possible to observe step movement in situ, and to measure the surface driving force using optical microscopy. The latter measurement is not possible by STM and AFM. 

Because the Patterson function contains no phases, it can be computed from any raw set of crystallographic data, but what does it tell us A contour map of p(x,y,z) displays areas of high density (peaks) at the locations of atoms. In contrast, a Patterson map, which is a contour map of P(u,v,w), displays peaks at locations corresponding to vectors between atoms. (This is a strange idea at first, but the following example will make it clearer.) Of course, there are more vectors between atoms than there are atoms, so a Patterson map is more complicated than an electron-density map. But if the structure is simple, like that of one or a few heavy atoms in the unit cell, the Patterson map may be simple enough to allow us to locate the atom(s). You can see now that the... 

A.2.2 Nonpolar Binary Intermetallic Phases. Zintl phases are characterized by the presence of markedly heteropolar bonding between the Zintl ions (electronegative polyatomic clusters) and the more electropositive metal atoms. By contrast, the bonding between heteronuclear atoms within other intermetallic compounds is primarily covalent or metallic. A number of different structure types exist for any given... 

The distribution of phases in the material is described by backscattered electron images (atomic number contrast). 

Such is not the case if, instead of the axial detector, we employ the annular dark-field detector for which P la 1, where P is the effective angle subtended by the detector. Under these circumstances we anticipate that phase contrast will not contribute significantly to the image. Instead, modulation of the amplitude-contrast transfer function should be noted in an image if, for example, a probe of FWHM comparable to atomic separations is scanned across a sharp edge or a periodic structure. This is observed in Figure 8, in which a probe of FWHM 3 A is scanned across... 

Figure 4.29 shows 120-nm wide and 10-nm thick Pt particles made by colloidal lithography on a 40-nm thick oxidized TEM membrane, i.e., with Si02 as the Pt support. Even though a thinner membrane 3delds better phase contrasts in TEM, atomic-scale resolution of particle-support boundary sites will normally require cross-sectional analysis. Using colloidal lithography, it is evident that a much narrower size distribution is obtained than by evaporation. 

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