Resolving competing distortions in Ca0.4Sr0.6TiO3 using complementary electron and X-ray techniques

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We present a study of the perovskite Ca0.4Sr0.6TiO3 using variable temperature transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD). At room temperature and below, PXRD shows that the material adopts an orthorhombic Pbcm structure analogous to the P-phase of NaNbO3. Above 380 K the material transforms to a tetragonal I4/mcm phase. The structural distortions of these phases can be described as a combination of modes and order parameters associated with the M, T, Δ and R-points of the Brillouin zone, each of which can be associated with a different set of superstructure reflections visible in X-ray and electron diffraction patterns. For the I4/mcm phase only the expected R-point reflections are observed in PXRD while both M and R- reflections are observed in electron diffraction. Using Δ and R dark field TEM images we show that the phase transition proceeds by a loss of coherence of TiO6 octahedral tilting along the c-axis, leading to a microstructure of thin nanoscale platelets with a different local symmetry to the macroscopic structure. These persist well above the phase transition temperature and are probably responsible for the long-standing discrepancy between Raman spectroscopy and diffraction measurements in this materials system, as well as other secondary effects.