title: Electron microscopy study of incommensurate modulated structures in misfit ternary chalcogenides.
abstract: The study of misfit structures by means of transmission electron microscopy and associated techniques is reviewed. It is complementary to X-ray crystallography and provides a local and direct view of the beautiful complexity of these systems. Three different types are presented in this work. Misfit columnar structures can be contemplated as a case of one-dimensional misfit structures while misfit layer structures are considered as two-dimensional misfit structures. Some extra dimensionality is added when these misfit layer structures wrap to give rise to tubular crystals. Electron microscopy/diffraction shows clearly in many examples the presence of structural modulations as weak satellite reflections that are very difficult to detect by X-ray diffraction methods. Besides, high-resolution images show the presence of stacking defects in some of these misfit layer structures.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Microscopía Electrónica, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, E-28040 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Landa-Cánovas
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gómez-Herrero
authors.forename: L C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Otero-Díaz