In situ high-resolution transmission electron microscopic imaging of an ion-milled SrTiO3 sample during annealing (925 or 940C) was reported. Regions that were amorphized during the ion-milling at room temperature were observed to crystallize, forming low-angle grain boundaries. At the grain boundaries, perfect a<001> dislocations and two climb-dissociated a/2<011> dislocations were observed. The experimental observations also include dynamic dislocation phenomena, such as glide, climb, and annihilation. Interestingly, the separation of the two a/2<011> partial dislocations in the low-angle grain boundaries was not constant, but temporarily fluctuates around a mean value of 2nm.

In situ High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy of Dislocation Formation and Dynamics during the Crystallization of Amorphous SrTiO3. S.B.Lee, W.Sigle, F.Phillipp, D.Brunner: Acta Materialia, 2005, 53[6], 1843-8