Quantitative Statistical Analysis of Atomic Scale Structural and Chemical Variations in Complex Oxides Interfaces

Grain boundaries (GBs) are known to have far-reaching effects on the electrical and mechanical properties of materials. Understanding the atomic scale mechanisms behind these effects requires an accurate determination of the interplay between GB structure and composition. Based on the analysis of a range of grain boundaries using aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), a general structural units model has been derived for the structure of grain boundaries in various dense packing cubic materials including FCC metals, perovskites and fluorites. The similarities in the observed grain boundary structures of these materials originate from related space (and point) group symmetries of the parent structures. The presence of structural variations away from the general structural units model may be caused by frustrations of certain symmetry operations that result from the incorporation of point defects (vacancies and impurities). A clear understanding of the similarity and variation in grain boundary atomic structures will not only provide a means to infer the structure-property relationships in broad classes of materials, but also enables us eventually to effectively manipulate the GB structures to achieve better materials properties.;To understand these chemical induced variations, and further quantify exactly how atomic scale variations at the boundary plane extend to the practical mesoscale operating length of the system, statistical analysis has been applied to the aberration corrected STEM Z-contrast images acquired from a series of undoped and doped SrTiO3 GBs. In order to understand the effects of oxygen vacancies incorporation, in-situ characterization of GB atomic structures were performed using the Environmental TEM under the reduced gas and heating environment. This analysis of GB similarity and variation provides insights into the structure-composition relationship in GBs to understand the influence of nonstoichiometry and dopant segregations. It also helps to determine experimentally the energetics behind the formation of grain boundary structures to predict GB formation in various materials.