An electron diffraction study of the polymorphs of siO2-tridymite

Abstract

The results of a detailed TEM study of the low frequency modes of distortion of high temperature SiO2-tridymite and their relationship to the extensive structural polymorphism of tridymite are presented. It is found that low energy modes of distortion of the ideal tridymite tetrahedral framework structure give rise to a strong and extremely characteristic diffuse intensity distribution (which can be broken into two component types) for the two highest temperature polymorphs of tridymite. Experimental results strongly suggest that this observed diffuse distribution is not a result of irreversible beam damage but is rather an intrinsic property of the ideal tridymite tetrahedral framework structure. The diffuse intensity distribution is closely related to the lower temperature polymorphs of tridymite — in particular, the primary modulation wave-vectors of these low temperature polymorphs always fall on the higher temperature diffuse distribution. The first type of diffuse distribution appears to result from coupled tetrahedral edge rotation of 〈110〉 columns of corner-connected SiO4 tetrahedra (uncorrelated from column to column as a result of the tetrahedral connectivity of the ideal tridymite framework structure). The real space structural origin of the second curved type of diffuse distribution, however, remains unclear.