Interpretation of HRTEM images of Sr0,67Ba0.33O2 by simulations through the multislice approach.

Abstract

The use of High Resolution Tranmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM) image simulation to interpret images of complex materials has gained popularity because of the progress in the field of simulation that has taken place in the last decades. In this work, we will explain one of the methods to simulate images, the multislice approach, and we will apply it to a tetragonal tungsten bronze (TTB) material, Sr0,67Ba0.33O2 (SBN-67), which is an interesting material for the technology of sensors because of its electrooptical, pyroelectrical and piezoelectrical properties. Then, these simulated images will be compared to the experimental ones, acquired with a JEOL 2010F TEM, to obtain the simulated image that best fits the experimental one, as to identify which atoms are present in this structure. To simulate the images we use a C++ code provided by Earl J. Kirkland, TEMsim, which is free for download. The results of these simulations demonstrate that the multislice approach is a powerful tool to interpret TEM images in spite of the huge amount of approximations that need to be introduced.