Thanks to the unique capabilities of in-situ dark-field X-ray microscopy, scientists have now been able to see the complex structures hidden deep inside ferroelectric materials. The results, published today in Nature Materials, contradict previous studies in which only the surface was studied. This revolutionary new technique will be the main feature of a new beamline for the new EBS machine currently being built at the ESRF.
“Until now we could only see the surface of the material; dark-field x-ray microscopy is like creating a window to its interior”, explains Hugh Simons, assistant professor at the Technical University of Denmark and corresponding author of the study. “It provides incredible contrast for even the subtlest structures inside these materials, giving us a much clearer picture of how they work”, he adds.
Simons, together with the team of ID06 – the beamline where the technique is being developed – studied the ferroelectric material BaTiO3, which is used every day in cars, computers and mobile phones. By imaging their internal structure at the same time as they applied an electric field on it, they could see how these internal structures behave and change dynamically.
>Read more on the European Synchrotron (ESRF) website
Image: (extract) Crosssectional dark-field x-ray microscopy maps of the embedded BaTiO3 grain. (…) the reconstructed strain map reveals the structural relationship between domain clusters. Full picture here.
Credit: H. Simons.