Electron Diffraction and Structural Imaging
A special issue of Symmetry (ISSN 2073-8994). This special issue belongs to the section "Physics".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2022) | Viewed by 30244
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Special Issue Editors
Interests: electron crystallography; precession electron diffraction; nano-materials; organic pharmaceuticals; cultural heritage materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: electron microscopy; metallic nanostructures; metal-oxides and ferroelectrics; crystallography of interfaces
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: electron crystallography; minerals; porous materials; nano-materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: precession electron diffraction; electron crystallography; phase and orinentation mapping, strain mapping; cultural heritage material
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Over the last decade, electron diffraction (ED) and structural imaging have received renewed interest from the scientific community due to the advances in TEM instrumentation (Cs correctors, direct detection cameras, 4D STEM) and the introduction of new techniques, such as beam precession, 3D electron diffraction and ptychography. Thus, the atomic structural characterisation of various types of materials (functional materials, energy materials, zeolites, minerals, organic compounds, pharmaceuticals and proteins) has become possible at the nm scale.
In particular, ED requires a far lower energy dose when compared to conventional imaging techniques, and therefore allows for the investigation of very beam-sensitive materials. ED is nowadays used for the atomic structure determination of new compounds (down to 50 nm in size), for the acquisition of phase, orientation and strain mapping, for the determination of electric fields and for the study of amorphous materials, which otherwise could not be studied by laboratory X-ray or synchrotron methods. Moreover, the development of in situ sample holders (gas, liquid, heating, etc.) has allowed for the study of (bio-) materials under close-to-natural conditions and of real-time reactions.
All these novel applications rely on or strongly benefit from the intrinsic symmetry of condensed matter at the atomic scale. Conventional crystals belong to one of the possible 230 space groups in 3D space, while the description of incommensurate materials requires a more complex formalism based on 4 to 6 dimensions. Even 2D or amorphous systems rely on specific assumptions of symmetry. Dynamic crystalline and symmetry evolution and phase transformations are characterised by external stimuli using in situ microscopy methods. This is the reason why we proposed this Special Issue of Symmetry entitled “Electron Diffraction and Structural Imaging”.
In this context, we welcome contributions covering any aspect of ED, structural imaging and other related in situ techniques that make use of consolidated or advanced TEM instrumentation and have potential applications for a wide range of materials.
Dr. Partha Pratim Das
Dr. Arturo Ponce-Pedraza
Dr. Enrico Mugnaioli
Dr. Stavros Nicolopoulos
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- nanomaterials
- electron diffraction
- 4D STEM
- serial ED
- 3D ED
- microED
- direct detection cameras
- ptychography
- in-situ
- atomic imaging
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