Atomic electric fields revealed by a quantum mechanical approach to electron picodiffraction

Knut Müller (), Florian F. Krause, Armand Béché, Marco Schowalter, Vincent Galioit, Stefan Löffler, Johan Verbeeck, Josef Zweck, Peter Schattschneider and Andreas Rosenauer
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Knut Müller: Institut für Festkörperphysik, Universität Bremen, Otto-Hahn-Allee 1
Florian F. Krause: Institut für Festkörperphysik, Universität Bremen, Otto-Hahn-Allee 1
Armand Béché: EMAT, University of Antwerp
Marco Schowalter: Institut für Festkörperphysik, Universität Bremen, Otto-Hahn-Allee 1
Vincent Galioit: Institut für Experimentelle und Angewandte Physik, Universität Regensburg
Stefan Löffler: Institute of Solid State Physics, Vienna University of Technology
Johan Verbeeck: EMAT, University of Antwerp
Josef Zweck: Institut für Experimentelle und Angewandte Physik, Universität Regensburg
Peter Schattschneider: Institute of Solid State Physics, Vienna University of Technology
Andreas Rosenauer: Institut für Festkörperphysik, Universität Bremen, Otto-Hahn-Allee 1

Nature Communications, 2014, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract By focusing electrons on probes with a diameter of 50 pm, aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) is currently crossing the border to probing subatomic details. A major challenge is the measurement of atomic electric fields using differential phase contrast (DPC) microscopy, traditionally exploiting the concept of a field-induced shift of diffraction patterns. Here we present a simplified quantum theoretical interpretation of DPC. This enables us to calculate the momentum transferred to the STEM probe from diffracted intensities recorded on a pixel array instead of conventional segmented bright-field detectors. The methodical development yielding atomic electric field, charge and electron density is performed using simulations for binary GaN as an ideal model system. We then present a detailed experimental study of SrTiO3 yielding atomic electric fields, validated by comprehensive simulations. With this interpretation and upgraded instrumentation, STEM is capable of quantifying atomic electric fields and high-contrast imaging of light atoms.

Date: 2014
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6653

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