Determination of Space Group Pncm of Prehnite Using Electron Diffraction Method

Space symmetry of prehnite, which occurs in cavities and veins within Skarn from the Tieshan iron mineral deposit,Daye,Hubei province,Central China,has been determined using selected area electron diffraction (SAED) and convergent-beam electron diffraction (CBED) on the submicrometer scale.Our results confirm that the natural prehnite may have the structure with symmetry Pncm.The unit-cell parameters of investigated prehnite (a=0.458nm,b=0.555nm,and c=1.853nm) have been calculated by using the multicrystal diffraction rings of gold,the internal standard.

Surface segregation of InGaAs films by the evolution of reflection high-energy electron diffraction patterns

Surface segregation is studied via the evolution of reflection high-energy electron diffraction （RHEED） patterns under different values of As4 BEP for InGaAs films. When the As4 BEP is set to be zero, the RHEED pattern keeps a 4x3/（nx3） structure with increasing temperature, and surface segregation takes place until 470 ℃ The RHEED pattern develops into a metal-rich （4x2） structure as temperature increases to 495℃. The reason for this is that surface segregation makes the In inside the InGaAs film climb to its surface. With the temperature increasing up to 515℃, the RHEED pattern turns into a GaAs（2x4） structure due to In desorption. While the As4 BEP comes up to a specific value （1.33 x 10-4 Pa-1.33 x 10-3 Pa）, the surface temperature can delay the segregation and desorption. We find that As4 BEP has a big influence on surface desorption, while surface segregation is more strongly dependent on temperature than surface desorption.

TEXTURE DETERMINATION OF THIN FILM ZrO_2 BY ELECTRON DIFFRACTION

A method for semi-quantitative determination of thin film texture using electron diffrac- tion is described.The texture state of a zirconia thin film with a cubic structure has been determined in this way and is presented as an example.

Uncovering the internal structure of five-fold twinned nanowires through 3D electron diffraction mapping

Five-fold twinned nanostructures are intrinsically strained or relaxed by extended defects to satisfy the space-filling requirement.Although both of metallic and semiconductor five-fold twinned nanostructures show inhomogeneity in their cross-sectional strain distribution,the evident strain concentration at twin boundaries in the semiconductor systems has been found in contrast to the metallic systems.Naturally,a problem is raised how the chemical bonding characteristics of various five-fold twinned nanosystems affects their strain-relieving defect structures.Here using three-dimensional(3D)electron diffraction mapping methodology,the intrinsic strain and the strain-relieving defects in a pentagonal Ag nanowire and a star-shaped boron carbide nanowire,both of them have basically equal radial twin-plane width about 30 nm,are nondestructively characterized.The non-uniform strain and defect distribution between the five single crystalline segments are found in both of the five-fold twinned nanowires.Diffraction intensity fine structure analysis for the boron carbide five-fold twinned nanowire indicates the presence of high-density of planar defects which are responsible for the accommodation of the intrinsic angular excess.However,for the Ag five-fold twinned nanowire,the star-disclination strain field is still present,although is partially relieved by the formation of localized stacking fault layers accompanied by partial dislocations.Energetic analysis suggests that the variety in the strain-relaxation ways for the two types of five-fold twinned nanowires could be ascribed to the large difference in shear modulus between the soft noble metal Ag and the superhard covalent compound boron carbide.

How to realize an ultrafast electron diffraction experiment with a terahertz pump:A theoretical study

To integrate a terahertz pump into an ultrafast electron diffraction(UED)experiment has attracted much attention due to its potential to initiate and detect the structural dynamics both directly.However,the deflection of the electron probe by the electromagnetic field of the terahertz pump alters the incident angle of the electron probe on the sample,impeding it from recording structural information afterwards.In this article,we studied this issue by a theoretical simulation of the terahertz-induced deflection effect on the electron probe,and came up with several possible schemes to reduce such effect.As a result,a terahertz-pump-electron-probe UED experiment with a temporal resolution comparable to the terahertz period is realized.We also found that Me V UED was more suitable for such terahertz pump experiment.

Ultrafast electron diffraction

Ultrafast electron diffraction （UED） technique has proven to be an innovative tool for providing new insights in lattice dynamics with unprecedented temporal and spatial sensitivities. In this article, we give a brief introduction of this technique using the proposed UED station in the Synergetic Extreme Condition User Facility （SECUF） as a prototype. We briefly discussed UED＇s functionality, working principle, design consideration, and main components. We also briefly reviewed several pioneer works with UED to study structure-function correlations in several research areas. With these efforts, we endeavor to raise the awareness of this tool among those researchers, who may not yet have realized the emerging opportunities offered by this technique.

DETERMINATION OF SPACE GROUP OF PrCo_(12)B_6 COMPOUND BY CONVERGENT BEAM ELECTRON DIFFRACTION

The space group of PrCo_(12)B_6,compound has been determined using the convergent beam elec- tron diffraction method.The space group is found to be R3m.

Absolute Structure Determination of Chiral Organic Nanocrystals Using Zone-Axis Electron Diffraction

Enantiomorphic identification of chiral molecules is essential in organic chemistry and the pharmaceutical industry,as two enantiomorphic structures can show distinctively different properties.Here,we illustrate the absolute structural determination of organic nanocrystals using zone-axis electron diffraction by taking advantage of electron multiple scattering.Two enantiomorphs are distinguished by comparing the reflection intensities of Friedel pairs in the zone-axis electron diffraction pattern,after confirming the absolute indices of reflections by locating relative positions of diffraction spots from two patterns that deviate from a certain angle.We demonstrate the protocol with successful applications in two chiral drug nanocrystals.

APPLICATION OF ELECTRON DIFFRACTION IN THE STRUCTURE CHARACTERIZATION OF POLYMER CRYSTALS

The dependence of properties on the structure and morphology of semicrystalline polymers offers an effective way to tailor the properties of these materials through structure control. To this end, establishing the structure and property relationship is of great importance. For a right characterization of the crystal structure, several techniques can be used. Among these techniques, electron diffraction has its advantage for determining the crystal structure related to specific formation condition since it can combine with bright and dark fields observation of the sample. This feature article describes the application of electron diffraction in determining the crystal structure of semicrystalline polymers with elaborately selected examples. We focus on how the electron diffraction can be used to disclose the crystal structure, mutual orientation of different crystals, as well as the disorders included in the polymer crystals.

Design of an MeV ultra-fast electron diffraction experiment at Tsinghua university

Time-resolved MeV ultra-fast electron diffraction (UED) is a powerful tool for structure dynamics studies. In this paper, we present a design of a MeV UED facility based on a photocathode RF gun at Tsinghua University. Electron beam qualities are optimized with numerical simulations, indicating that resolutions of 250 fs and 0.01 , and bunch charge exceeding 105 electrons are expected with technically achievable machine parameters. Status of experiment preparation is also presented.

Bunch evolution study in optimization of MeV ultrafast electron diffraction

Megaelectronvolt ultrafast electron diffraction（UED） is a promising detection tool for ultrafast processes.The quality of diffraction image is determined by the transverse evolution of the probe bunch. In this paper, we study the contributing terms of the emittance and space charge effects to the bunch evolution in the MeV UED scheme, employing a mean-field model with an ellipsoidal distribution as well as particle tracking simulation. The small transverse dimension of the drive laser is found to be critical to improve the reciprocal resolution, exploiting both smaller emittance and larger transverse bunch size before the solenoid. The degradation of the reciprocal spatial resolution caused by the space charge effects should be carefully controlled.

CRYSTAL STRUCTURE OF A LONG－PERIOD ORDERED PHASE IN Fe－C MARTENSITE AND COMPUTER SIMULATION OF ITS ELECTRON DIFFRACTION PATTERNS

Different structure models of a long-period ordered phase in Fe-C martenstie formed during aging have been checked by computer simulation of electron diffraction(ED) patterns based on these models.The results showed that the simulated ED pattern of γ'-FexC(Ⅱ) model proposed by the present authors is in good agreement with experimentally observed ED pattern.It was also confirmed that the incommensurate superperiod stems from the coexistence of several γ'-Fe_xC(H) phases with different superperiods.The Fe(144)C(24)(Fe6C) model proposed by Uwakweh et al.generated ED patterns remarkably different from the experimental ones.

Analysis of Orange Peel Defect in St14 Steel Sheet by Electron Backscattered Diffraction (EBSD)

In this paper, the orange peel defect in the surface range of the st14 steel sheet has been investigated using the electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) technique. It has been found that the orange peel defect in the st14 steel sheet was resulted from the local coarse grains which were produced during hot-rolling due to the critical deformation in dual-phase zone. During deep drawing, the coarse grains with {100}<001> microtexture can slip on the {112}<111> slip system to form bulging and yields orange peel defects, while the coarse grains with {112}<110> orientation do not form the defect as the Schmid factor of {112}<111> slip system in it equals zero.

Crystallographic Characteristic of Intermetallic Compounds in Al-Si-Mg Casting Alloys Using Electron Backscatter Diffraction

The Al-Si-Mg alloy which can be strengthened by heat treatment is widely applied to the key components of aerospace and aeronautics. Iron-rich intermetallic compounds are well known to be strongly influential on mechanical properties in Al-Si-Mg alloys. But intermetallic compounds in cast Al-Si-Mg alloy intermetallics are often misidentified in previous metallurgical studies. It was described as many different compounds, such as AlFeSi, Al8Fe2Si, Al5（Fe, Mn）3Si2 and so on. For the purpose of solving this problem, the intermetallic compounds in cast Al-Si alloys containing 0.5% Mg were investigated in this study. The iron-rich compounds in Al-Si-Mg casting alloys were characterized by optical microscope（OM）, scanning electron microscope（SEM）, energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer（EDS）, electron backscatter diffraction（EBSD） and X-ray powder diffraction（XRD）. The electron backscatter diffraction patterns were used to assess the crystallographic characteristics of intermetallic compounds. The compound which contains Fe/Mg-rich particles with coarse morphologies was Al8FeMg3Si6 in the alloy by using EBSD. The compound belongs to hexagonal system, space group P6_2m, with the lattice parameter a=0.662 nm, c=0.792 nm. The β-phase is indexed as tetragonal Al3FeSi2, space group I4/mcm, a=0.607 nm and c=0.950 nm. The XRD data indicate that Al8FeMg3Si6 and Al3FeSi2 are present in the microstructure of Al-7Si-Mg alloy, which confirms the identification result of EBSD. The present study identified the iron-rich compound in Al-Si-Mg alloy, which provides a reliable method to identify the intermetallic compounds in short time in Al-Si-Mg alloy. Study results are helpful for identification of complex compounds in alloys.

Effect of Electron Beam Orientation on Exit Wave Function via Simulation of Electron Dynamic Diffraction

Based on the electron dynamic diffraction, phase shift of the exit wave function vs misorientation of the incident electron beam from the exact zone axis has been calculated for the [001] oriented copper. The result shows that the peak of phase shift is the maximum at the atom position as the electron beam along the exact [001] zone axis, and the peak value of phase shift decreases as increases of the misorientation. At small misorientation, i.e. less than 5 degree, change of the phase shift is minimal. The peak value of phase shift decreases significantly when the incident beam deviates form the zone axis over 10 degree and the exit wave has a planar configuration as the misoriention angle arrives -17 degree. The effect of this phase shift characteristics on the information extracted from the hologram has also been considered.

Modification of Analytical Expression of Electron Dynamical Diffraction

Assuming that the wave function φ>=eη, the Schrodinger equation can be written as. Neglecting the last two terms, an analytical expression of electron dynamical diffraction was derived by Qibin YANG et al. In this paper, the analytical expression is modified by further considering thesecond-order differential term When the accelerating voltage is not very high, or the sample is not very thin, the reciprocal vector g is large, the modification of the second-order differential is necessary; otherwise it can be neglected.

Isolated attosecond electron wave packet diffraction

Wave-particle duality is one of the most fundamental and mysterious natures of matters. Here, we present an interesting scheme of isolated electron wave packet diffraction with a few-cycle laser pulse and an extreme ultraviolet （XUV） pulse. The diffraction fringes are clearly present in the laser dressed XUV photoelectron spectra, strongly resembling the Airy diffraction pattern of optical waves. This phenomenon suggests a great potential of attosecond diffractometry. According to this scheme we also propose a simple method to determine the XUV pulse duration from the photoelectron spectra with a rather high resolution.

Ultrafast Molecular Movies:Probing Chemical Dynamics with Femtosecond Electron and X-Ray Diffraction

Understanding the process of chemical reactions has always been a relentless pursuit for chemists.The development of femtosecond pump-probe techniques since the 1980s has revolutionized the field of chemical dynamics,enabling the capture of timeresolved snapshots of reactions on the femtosecond timescale.Starting from the 2010s,breakthroughs in femtosecond electron and X-ray sources has enabled ultrafast electron and X-ray diffraction techniques,which is able to directly reveal the temporal evolution of atomic geometries of molecules,allowing for the creation of molecular movies.Gas-phase molecular movies reveal intrinsic intramolecular processes,while liquid-phase molecular movies provide insights for complicated solvent-solute interplay.This minireview focuses on the advances in studying gasphase and liquid-phase molecular dynamics(MD)using ultrafast electron and X-ray diffraction techniques on femtosecond and picosecond timescales.The fast-developing experimental capability of the direct observation of molecular structural evolution during chemical reactions,on its natural femtosecond timescale and subangstrom length scale,offers tremendous potential for the field of chemical kinetics and MD.

Origin of nucleation and growth of extension twins in grains unsuitably oriented for twinning during deformation of Mg-1%Al

A large number of anomalous extension twins,with low or even negative twinning Schmid factors,were found to nucleate and grow in a strongly textured Mg-1Al alloy during tensile deformation along the extruded direction.The deformation mechanisms responsible for this behaviour were investigated through in-situ electron back-scattered diffraction,grain reference orientation deviation,and slip trace-modified lattice rotation.It was found that anomalous extension twins nucleated mainly at the onset of plastic deformation at or near grain boundary triple junctions.They were associated with the severe strain incompatibility between neighbour grains as a result from the differentbasal slip-induced lattice rotations.Moreover,the anomalous twins were able to grow with the applied strain due to the continuous activation ofbasal slip in different neighbour grains,which enhanced the strain incompatibility.These results reveal the complexity of the deformation mechanisms in Mg alloys at the local level when deformed along hard orientations.

Radio-frequency compressed electron pulse-width characterization by cross-correlation between electron bunches and laser-induced plasma

A method is proposed to determine the temporal width of high-brightness radio-frequency compressed electron pulses based on cross-correlation technique involving electron bunches and laser-induced plasma. The temporal evolution of 2-dimensional transverse profile of ultrafast electron bunches repelled by the formed transient electric field of laser-induced plasma on a silver needle is investigated, and the pulse-width can be obtained by analyzing these time-dependent images.This approach can characterize radio-frequency compressed ultrafast electron bunches with picosecond or sub-picosecond timescale and up to 105 electron numbers.