Preliminary Study of Domain Boundaries in Barium Titanate with High Angle Annular Dark Field(HAADF) Imaging

Abstract

BaTiO3 have been studied for years by electron microscopists. Those studies have revealed the existence of 90° and 180° ferroelectric domain boundaries. The high angle annular dark field(HAADF) STEM technique is known to have strong sensitivity to atomic number Z. The signal is generated by the channelling of electrons along rows or planes and high angle scattering(mostly thermal diffuse scattering) from the atoms. Contrast in HAADF images can be given by crystal defects as a result of changes in channeling or changes in the high angle scattering process. This work reports a preliminary study of ferroelectric domain boundaries in BaTiO3 with HAADF imaging and a qualitative discussion of the observed domain wall contrast.