Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mphil-in-micro-and-nanotechnology-enterprise-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2023/paper-1/section-a-i/1/iv/solution
Past exam of the MPhil in micro- and nanotechnology enterprise course of the University of Cambridge 2023 Paper 1 Section A(i) 1 iv Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-20
A coarse fringe in a high-resolution transmission electron microscopy image need not directly identify the lattice spacing of a new phase. Check whether overlapping crystals, a particle and its substrate, or differently oriented domains can produce the corresponding moiré fringe. Compare the underlying reciprocal-space peaks and their difference, use the particle boundary to constrain how many periods are actually sampled, and examine neighbouring or differently oriented regions. For the closest pair here, fitting a periodicity from less than one complete period is particularly unreliable. Distinguishing lattice contrast from a beat envelope prevents misidentifying a phase or over-interpreting local strain.
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