The effect of elastic relaxation on the local structure of lattice- modulated thin films.
01 January 1984
Shear stresses in lattice-modulated bulk materials, such as spinodally decomposed alloys, distort considerably the local unit cell dimensions. We show that the distortion changes appreciably in thin films because of elastic relaxation near the surfaces, giving rise to a significant thickness dependence to this effect. It is emphasised that these distortions can be large and must be allowed for if high resolution electron microscopy is to be used as a technique for deducing local composition or unit cell dimensions in composition modulated materials.