Abstract
The ability to resolve spatially and identify chemically atoms in defects is particularly important in polycrystalline materials, in which the grain boundaries have profound implications for the properties and applications of the final material. However, such atomic resolution is still extremely difficult to achieve, partly because grain boundaries are effective sinks for atomic defects and impurities. Here we show that the combination of advanced electron microscopy, spectroscopy and first-principles calculations can provide three-dimensional images of complex, multicomponent grain boundaries with both atomic resolution and chemical sensitivity. These results offer insights into interactions between defects and grain boundaries in ceramics and demonstrate atomic-scale analysis of complex multicomponent structures.
