OXIDATION OF ZINC PARTICLES VACUUM-DEPOSITED IN A HIGH-RESOLUTION TRANSMISSION ELECTRON-MICROSCOPE

Zn fine particles that are vacuum deposited by in-situ electron beam h eating in an electron microscope are investigated by high-resolution t ransmission electron microscopy. Zn platelets of sub-micron size are f ormed having definite crystal habits and are covered with a ZnO layer about 4 nm thick. The processed images reveal on the atomic scale that ZnO crystals, grown with the parallel orientation with Zn, have no ps eudomorphic structure and then no misfit dislocations. Video-recording discloses the island growth with no migration of oxide particles, and the moire pattern shows the resultant mosaic structure of the oxide l ayer.