Atom locations in a Ni doped η-(Cu,Ni)6Sn5 intermetallic compound

Abstract

The present study has succeeded in direct determination of the location of dopant Ni atoms in η-(Cu,Ni)6Sn5 by aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) including atomic-resolution imaging as well as elemental mapping by X-ray energy-dispersive spectroscopy (XEDS). The three sublattices of Sn, Cu1 and Cu2 were distinguished in atomic-resolution images observed along the [21¯1¯0] direction. Atomic-resolution XEDS maps have verified for the first time that the dopant Ni atoms located at the Cu2 sites in η-(Cu,Ni)6Sn5, taking advantage of the Poisson non-local principal component analysis (NLPCA) processing and the lattice-averaging procedure.