Atomic structure imaging of L1-type FePd nanoparticles by spherical aberration corrected high-resolution transmission electron microscopy

The atomic structure of FePd nanoparticles has been studied by spherical aberration (Cs) corrected high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The periodic arrangement of atoms arising from chemical order is clearly seen as bright contrast due to the small negative value of corrected Cs. The amount of optimal defocus (Scherzer defocus) is markedly reduced by the small Cs value. The interface between crystalline particles and the amorphous matrix can also be observed, free of imaging artifacts, at a small defocus value. The reconstructed phase image directly shows the projected potential distribution within the specimen and reveals the elemental differences due to chemical order. The clear-cut long-range order is lost when particle size is smaller than about 5 nm, at which locally ordered mixed-phase particles begin to dominate.