Atomic-Scale Heterogeneity of Hydrogen in Metal Hydrides Revealed by Electron Ptychography

TL;DR

This paper introduces multislice electron ptychography as a powerful technique to precisely image and quantify hydrogen distribution at the atomic scale in metal hydrides, overcoming previous limitations.

Contribution

The study demonstrates that multislice electron ptychography provides unprecedented sensitivity and resolution for detecting hydrogen atoms in solids, enabling three-dimensional and picometer-level analysis.

Findings

Resolved heterogeneous hydrogen distributions in alloys

Quantified hydrogen-induced lattice displacements with picometer accuracy

Established MEP as a transformative method for hydrogen imaging

Abstract

Hydrogen plays critical roles in materials science, particularly for advancing technologies in hydrogen storage and phase manipulation, while also posing challenges like hydrogen embrittlement. Understanding its behavior, vital for improving material properties, requires precise determination of atomic-scale distribution-a persistent challenge due to hydrogen's weak electron scattering and high mobility, as well as the limitations of conventional transmission electron microscopy. We demonstrate that multislice electron ptychography (MEP) overcomes these constraints through three key advances: exceptional sensitivity for hydrogen occupancy, three-dimensional quantification, and picometer-level precision in atomic positioning. Experimentally, MEP resolves heterogeneous hydrogen distributions and quantifies hydrogen-induced lattice displacements with picometer precision in multi-principal-element alloy hydrides. This work demonstrates MEP as a transformative method for directly probing hydrogen atoms in solids, unlocking fundamental understanding of hydrogen's impact on material properties.