title: Measuring electrostatic potential profiles across amorphous intergranular films by electron diffraction.
abstract: Amorphous 1-2-nm-wide intergranular films in ceramics dictate many of their properties. The detailed investigation of structure and chemistry of these films pushes the limits of today's transmission electron microscopy. We report on the reconstruction of the one-dimensional potential profile across the film from an experimentally acquired tilt series of energy-filtered electron diffraction patterns. Along with the potential profile, the specimen thickness, film orientation with respect to the grain lattice and specimen surface, and the absolute specimen orientation with respect to the laboratory frame of reference are retrieved.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institut für Metallforschung, Heisenbergstr. 3, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany. koch@mf.mpg.de
authors.forename: Christoph T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Koch
authors.forename: Somnath
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bhattacharyya
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rühle
authors.forename: Raphaëlle L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Satet
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
mesh_terms: D002516:Ceramics / Q000737:chemistry; D004577:Electron Probe Microanalysis; D004583:Electrons; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009040:Motion Pictures; D036103:Nanotechnology; D017655:Silicon Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D055672:Static Electricity
chemical_list: D017655:Silicon Compounds; C032734:silicon nitride