Nano- or even atomic-scale microstructural control has become a key technique to develop super functional materials for coming generations, and the success of such project totally relies upon a precise characterization of local atomic/electronic structures. In our laboratory, we study the microstructure of materials using advanced electron microscopy, a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) with an Angstrom-sized electron probe. By this unique technique we are able to detect even a single atom doped in a material, and are also able to measure its electronic states using electron spectroscopy. Understanding atomistic origins of nanostructured material’s properties will lead to established concept of structure-property relationships including doping effects, which has been one of the major challenging issues in materials science. We are also developing a novel STEM-based technique to measure a local strain field at atomic scale.

E. Abe, Y. Yan, and S. J. Pennycook: “Quasicrystals as cluster aggregates”, Nature Materials, 3 (2004) 759-767 E. Abe, S. J. Pennycook, and A.P. Tsai: “Direct observation of a local thermal vibration anomaly in a quasicrystal”, Nature, 421 (2003) 347-350 E. Abe, Y. Kawamura, K. Hayashi, and A. Inoue: “Long-period ordered structure in a high-strength nanocrystalline Mg-1at.%Zn-2at.%Y alloy studied by atomic-resolution Z-contrast STEM”, Acta Materialia, 50 (2002) 3845-3857