Abstract
AbstractInternal interfaces, between the same phase (grain boundary) or two different phases, often play an essential role in controlling various properties in ceramic materials. Analysis of such interfaces can achieve various newly available quantitative information on a sub-nanometer scale, as well as bonding picture associated with these interfaces. This analysis combines EELS spectrum profiling and advanced near-edge structure (ELNES) data processing, taking advantage from both the high spatial and energy resolutions provided by a dedicated STEM instrument. Demonstrated by chemical and structural study of gram boundary and inter-phase interfaces in Si3N4 ceramics where ∼1 ran thick amorphous phases cover every crystalline boundaries, it reveals that the amorphous boundary films are substantially different to bulk amorphous phase and to the interface between crystalline and amorphous phases. Moreover, the boundaries between two different crystalline phases were found covered with two thin amorphous layers of different composition and bonding. These observations can shed further light on the influence of interfaces on the macroscopic properties of these ceramic materials. This interfacial analuysis method can be extended to broader research area in solid state physics and chemistry.
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