As materials get reduced in size down to the nanoscale it becomes more complex to characterize them. In this regard transmission electron microscopy has been extensively used to better characterize and understand the mechanical behavior of materials at the nanoscale, although there are various contrast mechanisms that can be used in a TEM micrograph. Focusing in particular on diffraction contrast, we know that dislocation lines are interpreted based on how the displacement field of a dislocation in an infinite crystal influences contrast. However, from a practical standpoint most of the samples that are used in microscopy are of a finite size. Thus, it is important to understand the change in contrast of a screw dislocation by taking into account the effect of crystal size. A MATLAB program has been written to simulate contrast in the TEM of a screw dislocation, taking into account the modified displacement fields for finite size crystals. The effect of reducing crystal size and the effect of microscopic parameters, such as the deviation parameter and g.b diffraction conditions have been also analyzed. / text

X-Ray Diffraction Contrast Tomography (DCT) is a recently developed, non-destructive synchrotron imaging technique which characterizes microstructure and grain orientation in polycrystalline materials in three dimensions (3D). By combining it with propagation based phase contrast tomography (PCT) it is for the first lime possible to observe in situ the 3D propagation behavior of short fatigue cracks (SFCs) within a set of fully characterized grains (orientation and shape). The combined approach, termed 3D X-ray Tomography of short cracks and Microstructure (3DXTSM), has been developed on the metastable beta titanium alloy "Beta21S". A large part of this work deals with the development of the 3DXTSM methodology. In the combined dataset, each point on the 3D fracture surface can be associated with a multidimensional data structure containing variables describing the grain orientation, the local fracture surface normal and the propagation history. The method uses a surface mesh composed of triangles that describes the crack (in other words: the fracture surface) in the last propagation state measured. Grain orientations, crack fronts, local growth rates and grain boundaries can be visualized by assigning colors to this mesh. The data structure can be interrogated in a number of different ways. Tools for extracting pole figures and pole density distribution functions have been implemented. An algorithm was developed that is capable of measuring the 3D local growth rate of a crack containing branches. The accuracy of the grain boundaries as reconstructed with OCT was evaluated and the elastic constants of Beta21S were determined.

We envisage a fundamental study of the physical mechanisms (dislocation slip versus deformation twinning) involved in plastic deformation of hexagonal close-packed (HCP) metals like titanium and magnesium. A novel combination of X-ray imaging and diffraction techniques, termed X-ray diffraction contrast tomography (DCT), will be used to investigate details of the deformation process in the bulk of polycrystalline specimen. DCT provides access to the position, 3D shape, (average) orientation and elastic strain tensor of grains in polycrystalline sample volumes containing up to 1000 grains and more. Ultimately, an extension of the X-ray DCT technique is associated with a section topography methodology on the same instrument. This combination enables the measurement of local orientation and elastic strain tensors inside selected bulk grains. A very preliminary study of this approach is carried out on a magnesium alloy, underlying the current limitations and possible improvements of such approach. In this thesis, the data acquisition and analysis procedures required for this type of combined characterisation approach have been developed. The work is supported by the use of neutron diffraction, for an in-situ loading experiments, and two-dimensional electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), for the initial microstructure of the materials and cross-validation of the results obtained with the X-ray DCT technique.

This thesis presents a new optical imaging technique which measures the structure of objects without the use of lenses. Termed diffraction-contrast imaging (DCI), the method retrieves the object structure from a Fresnel diffraction pattern of the object, using a deconvolution algorithm. DCI is particularly adept at imaging highly transparent objects and this is demonstrated by retrieving the structure of an almost transparent cloud of laser-cooled atoms. Applied to transparent Bose-Einstein condensates, DCI should allow the non-destructive imaging of the condensate while requiring only the minimum possible apparatus of a light source and a detector. (For complete abstract open document)

La tomographie en contraste de diffraction est une nouvelle technique non destructive d'imagerie synchrotron qui caractérise la microstructure et l'orientation des grains dans les matériaux polycristallins en trois dimensions (3D). En la combinant avec la tomographe par contraste de phase. Il est pour la première fois possible d'observer in situ la propagation 3D des fissures de fatigue courtes au sein d'un ensemble de grains entièrement caractérisé (orientation et forme). L'approche combinée, appelée « tomographie tri-dimensionnelle par rayons X des fissures courtes et de la microstructure »(T3DXFM), a été développée sur l’alliage de titane métastable "Beta21S". Une grande partie de ce travail porte sur le développement de la méthodologie T3DXFM. Dans le jeu de données combinées, chaque point de la surface de rupture 3D peut être associé à une structure de données multidimensionnelle contenant des variables décrivant l'orientation des grains, l'orientation locale de la surface de rupture ainsi que l'histoire de la propagation. La méthode utilise un maillage de surface composé de triangles qui décrit la fissure (en d'autres termes: la surface de rupture) dans l'état de propagation mesuré au dernier cycle de fatigue réalisé. Les orientations des grains, les différents fronts de la fissure, les vitesses de croissance locales ainsi que les joints de grains peuvent être visualisés en attribuant des couleurs à ce maillage. Des outils d'extraction des figures de pôle ont été créés et mis en œuvre. Un algorithme a été développé qui est capable de mesurer la vitesse de propagation locale 30 d'une fissure contenant des branchements. / X-Ray Diffraction Contrast Tomography (DCT) is a recently developed, non-destructive synchrotron imaging technique which characterizes microstructure and grain orientation in polycrystalline materials in three dimensions (3D). By combining it with propagation based phase contrast tomography (PCT) it is for the first lime possible to observe in situ the 3D propagation behavior of short fatigue cracks (SFCs) within a set of fully characterized grains (orientation and shape). The combined approach, termed 3D X-ray Tomography of short cracks and Microstructure (3DXTSM), has been developed on the metastable beta titanium alloy "Beta21S". A large part of this work deals with the development of the 3DXTSM methodology. In the combined dataset, each point on the 3D fracture surface can be associated with a multidimensional data structure containing variables describing the grain orientation, the local fracture surface normal and the propagation history. The method uses a surface mesh composed of triangles that describes the crack (in other words: the fracture surface) in the last propagation state measured. Grain orientations, crack fronts, local growth rates and grain boundaries can be visualized by assigning colors to this mesh. The data structure can be interrogated in a number of different ways. Tools for extracting pole figures and pole density distribution functions have been implemented. An algorithm was developed that is capable of measuring the 3D local growth rate of a crack containing branches. The accuracy of the grain boundaries as reconstructed with OCT was evaluated and the elastic constants of Beta21S were determined.

Im Rahmen der vorliegenden Arbeit wurden nanoskopische Strukturen von II-VI-Verbindungshalbleitern unterschiedlicher Ausdehnung (zweidimensionale Schichten oder nulldimensionale Quantenpunkte) im Transmissionselektronenmikroskop (TEM) untersucht, die mittels Molekularstrahlepitaxie erzeugt worden sind. Als Substratmaterial diente generell (001)-orientierts GaAs. Schichten von (Zn,Cd)Se eingebettet in ZnSe wurden hinsichtlich der thermischen Stabilität der Grenzflächen bei variierter Schichtdicke analysiert. Die Realstruktur der Grenzflächen wurde mittels Beugungskontrastabbildung und hochaufgelöster Gitterabbildung (HRTEM) charakterisiert. Für eine Schichtdicke von 30 nm, die unterhalb des kritischen Wertes zur Entstehung von Fehlpassungsversetzungen von etwa 70 nm liegt, findet ausschließlich elastische Deformation des aufwachsenden Materials statt. Bei Überschreitung der kritischen Schichtdicke (100 und 300 nm) bilden sich in der Grenzfläche Versetzungen aus. Deren Dichte ist einerseits von der Schichtdicke abhängig, wird andererseits aber auch von den elastischen Eigenschaften des aufwachsenden Materials beeinflußt. Mit der Methode der energiedispersiven Röntgenspektroskopie wurden Cd-Konzentrationsprofile für die unterschiedlich dicken (Zn,Cd)Se-Schichten nach thermischer Behandlung gewonnen. Diese Konzentrationsprofile konnten unter Ansatz eines temperaturabhängigen Diffusionskoeffizienten simuliert werden. Es wurden von der Schichtdicke und damit von der Dichte der Fehlpassungsversetzungen unabhängige Cd-Diffusionskoeffizienten gefunden. Für 320 °C nimmt er einen Wert von ca. 5*10^-19 cm^2/s an, bei 400 °C beträgt er etwa 5*10^-17 cm^2/s. Die nulldimensionalen CdSe/ZnSe-Quantenpunktstrukturen bilden sich während eines Selbstorganisationsprozesses, dessen Ursache in der Gitterfehlpassung zwischen den beiden Komponenten von etwa 7 % zu sehen ist. Während der Selbstorganisation ordnet sich die oberste von drei CdSe-Monolagen in Quantenpunkte um. Die TEM-Untersuchungen an diesen Strukturen wurden sowohl im Querschnitt als auch in planarer Projektion durchgeführt. Neben den Quantenpunkten wurden bei Wachstum auf einer 25 nm dicken und damit ausschließlich elastisch verspannten ZnSe-Pufferschicht zusätzlich Versetzungen und Stapelfehler gefunden. Dagegen erwies sich das CdSe bei Abscheidung und Umordnung auf einer 1 µm dicken ZnSe-Pufferschicht als defektfrei. Die Höhe der Quantenpunkte betrug etwa 2 bis 3 nm, während deren laterale Ausdehnung zwischen 5 und 50 nm variierte. Hinsichtlich der Merkmale der Beugungskontrastmuster in planarer Projektion ließen sich zwei Klassen von Objekten unterscheiden. Die Quantenpunkte ohne erkennbare Strukturierung innerhalb der Beugungskontrastmuster waren etwa 5 bis 10 nm groß und mit einer Flächendichte von 1*10^10 cm^-2 verteilt. Die Quantenpunkte mit einer lateralen Ausdehnung von 10 bis 50 nm bei einer Flächendichte von 2*10^9 cm^-2 zeigten dagegen eine innere Strukturierung. Diese Beugungskontrastmuster wurden mit simulierten Mustern verglichen, für die unterschiedliche Formen von Quantenpunkten zugrunde lagen. Eine hinreichend gute Übereinstimmung zwischen Simulation und Experiment konnte für eine gekappte tetragonale Pyramide mit [100]-Basiskanten und {101}-Seitenflächen festgestellt werden. Zum Verständnis der Beugungskontrastmuster trugen zusätzliche Simulationsrechnungen mittels der Methode der finiten Elemente bei. Die elastische Verspannung im Bereich eines einzelnen Quantenpunktes wurde für unterschiedliche Netzebenenscharen und damit für bestimmte Beugungsbedingungen berechnet. Die experimentell erhaltenen Beugungskontrastmuster konnten auf diese Weise sehr gut verifiziert werden. / Low-dimensional structures (2-dimensional layers and 0-dimensional quantum dots) of II-VI compound semiconductors were investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The samples were grown by molecular beam epitaxy on (001)-oriented GaAs substrates. 2-dimensional layers of (Zn,Cd)Se/ZnSe were investigated with respect to the thermal stability of the interfaces. Special attention was paid to the diffusion process as a function of the density of dislocations caused by the lattice mismatch. These misfit dislocations were characterised using TEM diffraction contrast imaging as well high resolution TEM. No dislocations were observed for a thickness of 30 nm being below the critical one for initialising of plastical relaxation. Merely elastical relaxation, i.e., lattice distortion without formation of dislocations took place in the growing material. Whereas, dislocations were found for layer thicknesses above the critical one (100 and 300 nm). The dislocation density exhibited a dependence on the layer thickness as well as on the elastical properties of the material deposited. Profiles of the Cd composition were received for these (Zn,Cd)Se layers using energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy after different heat treatment. The composition profiles were fitted by means of a temperature dependent diffusion coefficient. For a fixed temperature the diffusion coefficient was found being independent on the layer thickness, i.e., independent on the density of misfit dislocations. The coefficients amount to about 5*10^-19 cm^2/s for 320 °C and to about 5*10^-17 cm^2/s for 400 °C. The zero-dimensional CdSe/ZnSe quantum dots (QDs) form via a self-organisation process induced by the lattice mismatch of about 7 %. Only the topmost of three CdSe monolayers redistributes into QD structures. TEM investigations of these structures were carried out in plan view as well as in cross section. CdSe QDs formed on a 25 nm thick ZnSe buffer layer. Additionally, unwanted dislocations and stacking faults were revealed. Obviously, the buffer layer grew pseudomorphically and plastical relaxation was realised in the QD structure. Whereas, no defects were detected in QD structures grown on an 1 µm thick ZnSe buffer, where the plastical relaxation occurs at the ZnSe/GaAs interface. The height of the QDs amounted to about 2 to 3 nm. Their lateral expansion varied between 5 and 50 nm. Two classes of diffraction contrast features of the individual QD were divided with respect to their inner pattern. The smaller features with no details visible showed a size distribution of 5 to 10 nm and exhibit an area density of about 1*10^10 cm^-2. Whereas, an area density of about 2*10^9 cm^-2 was found for features having a size between 10 and 50 nm with a visible inner pattern. These diffraction contrast features were compared with simulated ones for different shapes of the QDs. The best agreement was noticed for a truncated tetragonal pyramid with [100] edges of the basal plane and with {101} facets. Additionally, the diffraction contrast features of single QDs were verified by finite element calculations. Specific diffraction conditions were considered utilising the components of the elastic strain of the respective lattice planes.