Spherical kaolinite has been synthesized for the first time from noncrystalline aluminosilicate material in hydrothermal experiments conducted between 150° and 250°C and under autogenous vapor pressure. Spherules, whose mean diameters depended on growth conditions (0.1–0.6 μm), were formed surrounding the noncrystalline aluminosilicate in all products of 150° and 200°C runs and coexisted with platy or lath-shaped kaolinite in the products of 250°C runs. The estimated percentages of spherules in the products increased from about 1% in the 150°C-15 days product to about 74% in 200°C-8 days product, and decreased from about 21% in 250°C-2 days product to 0% in 250°C-8 days product. Lattice images by high-resolution electron microscope indicated that the spherules consisted of nearly concentric stackings of layers with a unit spacing of 7Å, which were sectored by radiating boundaries. The mean chemical composition of the spherules (Al2O3/SiO2 = 0.58) analyzed by the analytical electron microscope is similar to that of kaolinite (Al2O3/SiO2 = 0.5). Even in the case of the product abundant in spherule (200°C-8 days), X-ray powder diffraction patterns of the wetted products, e.g., of the 200°C-8 day run, showed the 7.14-Å (001) reflection of kaolinite. The 020 reflection was broad, indicating the existence of abundant (001) layer displacements. The b axis (8.94 Å) were within the kaolinite range (8.93–8.94 Å). No infrared absorption peaks were observed at 3550 cm−1 which would correspond to halloysite. The differential thermal analysis slope ratios of the endothermic peak at about 550°C (1.4–2.3) were in the kaolinite range (0.78–2.39).

The mode of growth of authigenic, lath-shaped illitic particles has been investigated using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). Two types of clay lath have been identified: overgrowths on platelets of illite or illite-smectite and discrete particles. Both are neoformed and show a slight increase in abundance with depth over the 70 m depth interval sampled. Interpretation of lattice fringe data is not unambiguous but indicates that the clay is either illite or illite-smectite with R1 structure. The formation of discrete particles of authigenic illite, or even R1 illite-smectite, is compatible with present burial depths and a regional geothermal gradient of approximately 40°C/km. This illite also differs from many previous reported occurrences of authigenic illite in mudrocks in that it appears to have formed, without being preceded by progressive illitization of illite-smectite.

Methods for accurate and automated determination of the coefficients of the wave aberration function are compared with particular emphasis on measurements of higher order coefficients in corrected instruments. Experimental applications of aberration measurement to the determination of illumination isoplanicity and high precision local refinement of restored exit waves are also described.

Indirect high resolution electron microscopy using one of several possible data-set geometries offers advantages over conventional high-resolution imaging in enabling the recovery of the complex wavefunction at the specimen exit plane and simultaneously eliminating the aberrations present in the objective lens. This article discusses results obtained using this method from structures formed by inorganic materials confined within the bores of carbon nanotubes. Such materials are shown to be atomically regulated due to their confinement, leading to integral layer architectures that we have termed “Feynman crystals.” These one-dimensional (1D) crystals also show a wide range of structural deviations from the bulk, including unexpected lattice distortions, and in some cases entirely new forms have been observed.

Improvements in instrumentation and image processing techniques mean that methods involving reconstruction of focal or beam-tilt series of images are now realizing the promise they have long offered. This indirect approach recovers both the phase and the modulus of the specimen exit plane wave function and can extend the interpretable resolution. However, such reconstructions require the a posteriori determination of the objective lens aberrations, including the actual beam tilt, defocus, and twofold and threefold astigmatism. In this review, we outline the theory behind exit plane wavefunction reconstruction and describe methods for the accurate and automated determination of the required coefficients of the wave aberration function. Finally, recent applications of indirect reconstruction in the structural analysis of complex oxides are presented.

Twinning plays an important role in phase transformations and can have significant effects on microstructural evolution. Different roles of twinning in the development of microstructures during precipitation and phase transformations are reviewed and illustrated with examples from investigations by high-resolution electron microscopy, including the effect of multiple twinning on the development of Ge precipitates in Al-Ge and Ag-Ge alloys, the twin dissociation of grain boundaries in Au, the formation of hexagonal Si at twin intersections and the effect of twin boundaries on the equilibrium shape of Pb inclusions in Al.

We have observed that a slight crystal tilt away from the zone axis paradoxically decreases the dynamical extinction length, as if the electron-crystal interaction increases. This effect disappears at larger tilt angles. Using the simplified channeling theory, this behavior is explained.